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.
“All the negative statements that were issued following the latest speech of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will not affect the dialogue between the Shi’ite group and the Future Movement,” Al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted Speaker Nabih Berri as saying.
“The fifth dialogue session is due to be held in Ain El-Tineh tomorrow (Tuesday),” Speaker Berri said.
“Both parties will continue to hold dialogue as they are keen to proceed with it,” he noted, saying “we agreed since the beginning on the topics to be discussed and determined the controversial items”.
Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq stressed on Monday that a campaign to remove banners, flags and pictures of Lebanese parties will start this week, saying it will include Beirut, Sidon, Tripoli, the coastline and other regions.
“I believe that the next dialogue session with Hezbollah will be difficult following the latest speech of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” Mashnouq said in an interview with As-Safir daily.
“But what matters is that dialogue sessions continue despite the difficulties,” he added.
Mashnouq also slammed the attack that targeted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria’s Damascus on Sunday, saying “it is an unforgivable crime against innocent civilians”.
Vicar General Boulos Sayyah denounced on Monday a decision to lay off employees working at Casino Du Liban, holding the center’s directors responsible for this file.
“If some employees were not attending work as claimed, why did the concerned authorities remain silent? Why didn’t they issue warnings against them?” Sayyah asked.
In an interview with Al-Joumhouria newspaper, he added that this decision was extremely unfair to a number of sacked employees.
Kataeb MP Elie Marouni said "all calls to make the war and peace decision in the hands of the Lebanese state went unheeded following the stances that were issued by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah".
“The speech we heard confirms that Hezbollah is the sole decision maker in this regard,” Marouni told the Kuwait-based Al-Seyassah daily on Monday.
He added however that “the Hezbollah-Future dialogue has excluded any debate on weapons, the defense strategy and Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian war. Therefore, in spite of what happened, we hope that dialogue will proceed as planned”.