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.
The Director General of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said that the Qatari envoy achieved some progress in the case of the abducted troops, noting that the kidnappers must confirm their readiness to engage in indirect negotiations.
In a statement to al-Akhbar daily, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim said that this issue is very complicated and require time and patience, adding that the serious negotiations will begin soon since the kidnappers had sent their three proposals related to the swap deal.
In this regard, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim added that there are two matters that are not subject to compromise; the safety of the hostages and their certain return, as well as preserving the state’s authority.
He also said that he sent a letter to al-Nusra Front with the Qatari envoy, whereby he said: “[…] if you kill all the Lebanese troops, there won’t be any reason to pursue the negotiations with you and meet your demands. The more you keep the soldiers alive in custody, the higher the price we pay. We will not negotiate over dead bodies and we do not want the three corpses you have. Every solider you kill; I do not want his body. You must act on this basis. We will only negotiate over living hostages; we do not pay any price for the dead troops […]”
According to the daily, al-Nusra Front replied to Ibrahim’s letter saying: “We will not execute any more soldiers.”
Speaker Nabih Berri said that the time has come to reach an agreement over the issue of the presidential elections, stressing the need to pass the law pertaining to the extension of the parliament’s mandate, which was approved on the basis of necessity.
In a statement to al-Mustaqbal daily, Berri said that the term extension saved the country from heading toward an unknown path, calling on the rival parties to unite and resolve the issue of the presidential vacuum.
Commenting on the issue of the electoral law, the speaker said that he will head the meeting of the parliamentary committee tasked with discussing the new electoral draft law set to be held on November 17, in a bid to reach a law that preserves the rights of the Lebanese people in a fair representation.
Former Minister Wiam Wahhab told al-Akhbar daily that there is no neutral side when it comes to the war between terrorism and the Lebanese and Syrian armies, noting that the Druze of Jabal al-Sheikh have never been the aggressors, but they always responded to attacks.
In this context, Wahab said that those who claim “to stand on the sidelines of this battle,” pay a higher price than the one paid by the parties in conflict.