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.
- Frangieh: I do not have
to sit down with a representative of Geagea at the dialogue table
El Marada leader MP
Sleiman Frangieh told As-Safir newspaper on Saturday that if Lebanese Force
leader Samir Geagea wanted to send his representative to the dialogue table “for
security reasons”, then El Marada will also send representatives.
“The one who does not
want to participate does not send a representative; I don’t have to sit with a representative
of Samir Geagea”, Frangieh said.
Frangieh added “we
understand the circumstances of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah who, since the beginning, appointed the head of the Loyalty to the
Resistance bloc Mohammad Raad to represent him, with the consent of all;
however, we cannot understand the circumstances of anyone else.”
Frangieh reiterated that
everyone has the right to refrain from attending the sessions, but no one can
send a representative.
- Signs that Lebanese abductees might be released
within 48 hours
An-Nahar daily reported on Saturday that
sources from Hezbollah received signs that the 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in
Syria might be released within 48 hours. Hezbollah also received a confirmation
that they are all safe and sound.
According to the newspaper, the negotiations with
the kidnappers made great strides. According to another source, their transfer
to Lebanon will take place according to the same procedure that was hampered
the first time.
- Is Hezbollah behind the
fire that erupted in Villaggio Mall in Qatar?
Al-Akhbar daily reported
that some Arab and western newspapers and websites have been partaking in an
incitement campaign in the past few days, passing on a story that the fire that
erupted in the Villaggio Mall in the Qatari capital at the end of last month,
killing 19 people was plotted by the Syrian and Iranian intelligence services
and carried out by Hezbollah. These websites and newspapers linked this story
to the dismissal of Lebanese employees from Abu Dhabi in the past few weeks.
After the Qatari Interior
Ministry denied these rumors, reiterating that the fire was an accident, not a
terrorist act, the website of US-based
intelligence company Stratfor published a report on Friday, contradicting the
statements of Qatari officials.
According to the report, a
Shiite Lebanese employee might be involved in the premeditated fire; hence
Hezbollah might have a direct link to it.
Sratfor’s report was based
on information taken from Bahraini Sunni lawmaker Selman Bin Hamad al-Sheikh, a
Qatari government official and other sources in Al Manama and Doha.
The report quoted the
Sheikh as saying that the Villaggio fire was caused by cells affiliated to the
Syrian and Iranian intelligence services. The Sheikh accused Syria of being
behind other fires in Qatar and Bahrain.
- Aoun: The call for dialogue is “not bad”
The Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun told
Al Balad newspaper that the call for dialogue is not bad, adding that the most
important thing now is that the different parties meet, even if previous
experiences were not encouraging.
Aoun said that there will be someone to
represent the Lebanese Forces’ point of view at the dialogue table. “This can
happen to anyone, and I do not think that the LF will refuse any consensus that
might be reached”. Aoun added that the dialogue will not be the last chance,
stressing that the most important decision to be taken would be the decision to
immune Lebanon from any destabilizing attempt.
Aoun criticized the accusations directed to the
Change and Reform bloc, saying “Maintaining stability is what makes me sacrifice;
if the initiative we presented was not adopted, we would have bidden farewell
to the government because we suffered a lot”.