Press Digest for Saturday September 10, 2011

5^min

Berri to An-Nahar: Rai’s remarks protect Lebanon

Speaker Nabih Berri told An-Nahar daily that the remarks made by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai from Paris protect Lebanon.

“Rai’s foresight has proven that he is a wise national and religious figure”, Berri said.

An-Nahar quoted Berri as saying: “The ideas guiding Rai’s vision are not only beneficial for the Christian community but for all Lebanese”.

The local newspaper reported that Speaker Berri will meet with the Head of the Maronite church during his visit to the South, adding that Berri invited Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir to visit the South more than once.

Christian delegation to Syria Lebanese Cardinal to head

Al-Akhbar daily reported that as soon as Rai returns from Paris, a cardinal close to Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai will head to Damascus presiding over a Christian delegation to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The newspaper cited sources that accompanied Rai during his visit to France as saying: “Rai’s statement about the Syrian president expressed his conviction that was consolidated when he heard what French officials had to say.”

The sources added that the patriarch was reassured by French officials who emphasized people’s right to democracy and ruled out any future plan for a foreign military intervention in Syria.

Jumblatt to As-Safir: Hezbollah can prove innocence of four accused

The Head of the National Struggle Front Walid Jumblatt told As-Safir daily that he endorses the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) funding.

“Some Lebanese believe in the STL and have faith in its capacity to reveal the truth about the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri and his companions”, Jumblatt said.

The newspaper quoted Jumblatt as saying: “I am worried that if Lebanon does not keep its financial commitment to the STL, the international community will burden Lebanon with severe sanctions that it cannot afford.”

Jumblatt added that Hezbollah has enough counsels do defend its four indicted members and prove their innocence, given that Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah presented valuable evidence.

Security guards stop escape attempt from Lebanon’s Roumieh prison

Al-Akhbar daily reported that the security personnel in charge of guarding the maximum security complex at Roumieh prison also known as building D stopped an escape attempt staged by prisoners whose identities were not revealed.

The newspaper said that the prisoners were trying to saw the rusted iron bars that separate the building from its yard. In a bid to camouflage their escape attempt, they smeared ground coffee beans all over the iron bars.

Few weeks ago, five inmates – one Lebanese, two Syrians, one Kuwaiti and one Sudanese- had managed to escape the same building after they climbed down from their cells using bed sheets.

U.S. to continue supporting LAF

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense Elizabeth Robins told As-Safir daily that the U.S. will continue its cooperation program with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), underscoring the strong relations that Washington maintains with the military institution.

The newspaper quoted Robins as saying: “The cooperation programs cover a wide range of activities such as mutual training and equipment projects as well as educational exchange programs.”

Robins highlighted the importance attached by the U.S. to Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that the U.S. is committed to backing the LAF.

“The commitment of the U.S. towards Lebanon’s falls in a wider scope of international efforts exerted to promote Lebanon’s state’s institutions and the government’s capacity to extend its power over all its territories,” Robins noted.

Wikileaks: Aoun unsatisfied with his isolation from U.S. government

Al-Mustaqbal daily quoted cable 205 issued by U.S. embassy to Lebanon on February 20, 2009 and published on Wikileaks that the Head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) MP Michel Aoun is unhappy with “the isolation” imposed by the U.S. government.

According to the cable, the Change and Reform bloc Christian MPs were disgruntled over Aoun’s isolation from the American government. Aoun supports Lebanese-Israeli talks, under the condition that Syria be present during negotiations, according to his media representative.

During meetings that took place between February 5 and 15, 2011 held by former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Sisson and the embassy’s charges d’affaires, opposition members in Aoun’s parliamentary bloc voiced confidence in their capacity to win the parliamentary elections of June 7, 2009.