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.
National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblatt said on Monday that he supports the assignment of Ahmad Fliti, Arsal’s deputy mayor, as a mediator in the case of the kidnapped Lebanese troops.
“Following Fliti’s meeting with the kidnappers, I was told that there was a serious and negotiable offer aiming to broker a settlement in the case of the Arsal hostages,” MP Jumblatt told As-Safir daily.
“Health Minister Wael Abou Faour will inform the ministerial crisis cell members about this offer,” Jumblatt said, hoping the members would have a united and positive stance in this regard.
Speaker Nabih Berri told his guests on Sunday that a dialogue session between Hezbollah and the Future Movement is set to begin before the New Year.
“There will be an open-ended agenda, except for the issues that will be excluded from discussion as it has been agreed from the beginning, such as the Syrian crisis and Hezbollah’s weapons,” Berri’s guests quoted him as saying to As-Safir newspaper.
Speaker Berri was also quoted as saying that the first dialogue session will be held under his patronage, adding “afterwards direct meetings are supposed to be held between both sides”.
Senator Pietro Grasso, President of the Italian Senate, is set to begin on Monday his visit to Lebanon where he is due to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rai and Culture Minister Raymond Areiji.
“Grasso is due to hold a press conference following his meeting with Salam,” Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Monday.
The daily added that Senator Grasso will visit Lebanon’s South on Tuesday to inspect the Italian battalion of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and meet with its chief, General Luciano Portolano.
Environment Minister Mohammad al-Mashnouq told
An-Nahar daily on Monday that the waste management dossier is the first item on the agenda of Tuesday’s cabinet session.
“If the ministers fail to approve the dossier, a major crisis will take place in the country,” Mashnouq warned, saying “the file is not linked to politics but it is a national and environmental matter”.