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 Lebanese Armed Forces Commander, General Jean Kahwagi stressed that the war on terrorism and terrorists is an open war, which may turn into a war of attrition, mainly after the Lebanese army has infiltrated into the far mountainous regions.
He noted that the terrorist groups have responded to the preemptive strikes launched by the army.
In a statement to an-Nahar daily, Kahwagi commented on reports linking the recent attacks against the army in Ras Baalbek and Arsal’s mountains with the arrest of Saja al-Dulaimi, the former wife of the Islamic State’s leader by the Lebanese army’s Intelligence, saying that the woman was arrested 15 days ago in order to verify her identity.
“The terrorist organizations are not like classical armies, they are unpredictable,” the LAF chief stated, stressing that the Lebanese army is strong and will defeat the terrorists no matter the sacrifices.
Al-Akhbar daily quoted head of Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun as saying that he is not concerned with the dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement, since he has not been invited, noting that he would only watch the process, "which aims only to ease Sunni-Shiite tension," as he said.
“The main issues that will not be tackled during this dialogue have to be discussed in Rabieh, such as the electoral law and the election of a new president,” the newspaper quoted Aoun as saying.
The daily stressed that MP Aoun has complete confidence in Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and knows that he will not change his stance concerning the presidency, when the latter named Aoun as the only presidential candidate of the March 8 coalition.
According to the newspaper, Aoun will not accept the return to the electoral law that stemmed from the Doha agreement, which was adopted in 2008, stressing the need to reach a new law that fairly represents both Christians and Muslims.
Al-Joumhouria daily reported that the Director General of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim briefed the ministerial committee tasked with the issue of the Lebanese hostages on the latest developments concerning the negotiations in this regard.
Maj. Gen. Ibrahim mainly tackled the imprecision of the demands of the abductors, since no progress has been made regarding the list of prisoners’ names since the departure of the Qatari envoy from Lebanon.
In the same context, sources from the ministerial committee revealed that the negotiation dossier remains unclear, adding that the kidnappers have not been serious enough in order to cross important phases.
“The kidnappers are being moody and acting unpredictably, they present a draft list of names, but fail to present us with an official list in order to commence work on the swap deal,” the sources said, pointing out that some of the kidnappers have been spreading rumors in order to spark confusion.
“For example, al-Nusra Front did not threaten to execute a hostage on Monday, nor did it delay the killing or issue a statement whatsoever, but the outrage of the families of the hostages was caused by rumors aiming at destabilizing the situation,” the sources continued.
Environment Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said that he will follow up on the issue of medical waste produced by hospitals and medical laboratories "until the very end," stressing that appropriate measures will be taken against any institution that violates the means of treating medical waste.
“Putting the lives of the citizens at risk by irresponsibly throwing toxic waste is considered a criminal act,” he said.
In a statement to an-Nahar daily, al-Mashnouq said that the Environment Ministry will cooperate with the Health Ministry in this issue, pointing out that control over the hospitals, laboratories, clinics and beauty salons will be tightened.