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.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told
As-Safir daily that he holds information that Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas will sign the transportation fees decree on Monday.
Charbel stressed that no disputes are arising on the subject, adding that the primordial concern of the Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun is to legalize the transportation fees decree.
“Since the Parliament will discuss putting forth a parliamentary law, we have no problem if the minister signs the decree”, Charbel said.
Political sources close to the Free Patriotic Movement told
Al Akhbar daily that the Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun asked Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas to sign the transportation fees decree. The sources said that although at first Nahhas accepted the request, he went back on his decision later on.
The same sources note that this matter might trigger a row between the two men, given that the majority of the Change and Reform bloc endorses a quick solution to the crisis.
An-Nahar daily quoted visitors of Speaker Nabih Berri as saying that odds are a solution to the transportation fees issue will be reached before Wednesday. Parliamentary circles close to Berri expect Nahhas to sign the decree “prior to the session” without determining a precise time, adding that the final touches will be put on the exit during the parliamentary session.
According to the local daily, the sources added that if everything goes according to plan, the transportation issue will positively reflect on the appointments issue. The sources said that Wednesday’s session was likely to be extended another day due to the piling issues on the parliament’s agenda.
Meanwhile, sources close to PM Najib Mikati told An-Nahar that the cabinet will not accept to look into the transportation issue before Nahhas signs the decree. The sources added that the cabinet will reject any calls for compromises, trades or conditions that might accompany future subjects such as appointments. “There will be no compromises on the cabinet’s prerogatives”, the sources said.
Mikati’s sources ruled out the possibility that a special meeting between Aoun and the Prime Minister is in the making, adding that Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sahnawi called for a dinner meeting one month ago. “The dinner meeting will see the participation of well over 200 guests and it has nothing to do with the current crisis”, the sources confirmed.
Egyptian security sources and Syrian National Council sources told
Acharq al Awsat daily that Iranian military units aboard the two vessels that anchored in Syrian shores are disrupting calls made by the Syrian opposition via satellites.
According to the daily, an Egyptian security source said that the two Iranian ships that have anchored in Syria include two military units in charge of wiretapping calls made by the Syrian opposition via satellites with a “Thuraya” system and disrupting their calls via satellites with an Inmarsat system. The source added that the Syrian regime has been facing difficulties tracking down the rebels, stealing information and wiretapping calls made by the Free Syrian Army inside Syria.
The same sources stressed that the FSA and Syrian revolution coordination committees have resorted to safe means of communication.
Member of the Syrian National Council Imad Hasri said that the Syrian regime is sensing that Russia and China will go back on their stances. Hasri added that the regime is currently investing its relations with Iran that is suffering from a crisis with the international community.
- Defector Brigadier: Syria is run by Assad’s mother and Hezbollah villages
Brig. Gen. Fayez Omru, who recently defected from the Syrian army, told Algerian
Echourouk newspaper that the Syrian military institutions is witnessing unrest within its ranks, adding that most brigades are feeling down.
Omru added that Homs is witnessing hardship and disasters, stressing that Anisa Makhlouf, the mother of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is controlling the regime and the way it is dealing with the current crisis.
The defector brigadier said: “Today, 5 people run Syria Bashar Assad, his brother Maher, his brother in law Asef Chokat, Mohammad Nassif and Abdul Fattah Qodsiya. However, Anisa Makhlouf, Assad’s mother, is the first in command. They take their fatwas from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In fact the Syrian security apparatuses include Iranian advisors.”
Omru said that certain villages in Homs, such as Al Rada, are armed by Hezbollah.
As-Safir daily reported that Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas will sign the transportation fees decree prior to the parliamentary session, regardless of the formalities of who will sign before and who will after, adding that what is important is to legalize the decree.
Other sources close to the Change and Reform bloc said that Nahhas will not sign the same decree issued by the cabinet, adding that a legal exit to this crisis will be created prior to the session. The sources said that a new plan is brewing and will see the light in the next 48 hours.