Press Digest for Sunday November 02, 2014

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.

• Lebanese authorities did not officially approve yet swapping abducted troops with prisoners-sources

Sources told al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Sunday that the Lebanese authorities did not officially approve on swapping inmates in Lebanese and Syrian prisons with the abducted Lebanese troops in the border town of Arsal.
 
The same sources added that the negotiations are ongoing, adding however that a list that includes the names of the prisoners that the abductors are asking to be released was submitted to the Lebanese authorities.

• Salafist cleric al-Shahhal says weapons found in Deqmaq's house belong to him

Salafist cleric Dai al-Islam al Shahhal told Acharq al-Awsat newspaper on Sunday that the weapons found in the house of Bilal Deqmaq on Friday belong to him.

He also noted that the weapons are only used for self-defense, adding that he tightened his personal security measures following the rounds of clashes in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods.

• Muslim Scholars Association member: Demands of Lebanese soldiers' abductors are "clear"

Muslim Scholars Association member Sheikh Adnan Oumama told al-Rai newspaper on Sunday that the demands of the abductors of the Lebanese troops in Arsal are "clear."

Sheikh Oumama added that the swapping of the kidnapped soldiers with inmates in Lebanese and Syrian prisons is "a red line for the abductors."