The following are summaries of today's major stories published in the Arabic press. LBCI does not edit press digest articles for content, giving English-language readers insight into the various views expressed in newspapers across the Arab world.
Labor Minister Sejaan azzi told
al-Akhbar daily that the decision to grant school certificates for students should be made by Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, noting that such a matter does not need a decree from the cabinet.
“The government tasked Minister Bou Saab with completing the negotiations with the Union Coordinating Committee during the last hours of the deadline he set, in order to reach an agreement over the correction of the official exams,” he explained.
Azzi noted that in case Bou Saab fails to reach an agreement, he has the right to take the decision he deems appropriate.
In this regard, Minister Azzi said that a number of ministers expressed reservations over the issue of the school certificates, pointing out that no one has presented any objection over this subject yet, “since there appears to be no other solution.”
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said that the one-billion-dollar grant offered by Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz proves that the latter has a strategic mind.
In a statement to
an-Nahar daily, the minister noted that the king has chosen to support all the legitimate Lebanese apparatuses, mainly the military institution, which has a mission to protect and defend Lebanon and its people.
Well-informed sources told
al-Joumhouria daily that the Jordanian King Abdullah II tasked Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Jawdat with holding talks with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil, in order to follow up on the assistance to be presented by his country to fight terrorism which has become an international and regional concern, rather than a local one.
In this regard, the sources told the daily that the Jordanian king expressed his willingness to help in any way possible, especially on the military level.
Al-Joumhouria daily reported that Speaker Nabih Berri said that the general situation in the northeastern town of Arsal will change after the latest events, stressing the importance of the return of 1800 Syrian refugees to their country.
During meetings held with visitors, Berri stated that the security forces should no longer be lenient with the residents of the refugee camps, “especially after their cooperation with the armed men was revealed,” he said.
Accordingly, the speaker pointed out that the necessary preventive measures must be taken in Arsal, in anticipation of any recurrence of the recent incidents, whether in Arsal or any other region, stressing the need to deploy army troops across the town and its surroundings.
On another note, Berri stated that reports emerged revealing that a number of Arsal residents cooperated with the gunmen, adding that these people will be identified and referred to the concerned judiciary to take the appropriate legal measures against them.
“Any form of negotiation or compromise between the Lebanese government and the armed groups is categorically rejected, especially when it comes to the case of Islamists held at the Roumieh inmates,” he added.