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.
An-Nahar Daily reported on Monday that a
delegation of clerics from the north has decided to visit Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir
today if it receives positive signs from him. The newspaper said
Hezbollah and Amal Movement have informed security apparatuses that the current
sit-in is still "within the acceptable", adding that "cutting off the
seaside road, which is the vital artery of the south, would be a red line”.
On the other hand, Sheikh al-Assir told
An-Nahar
newspaper that Interior Minister Marwan Charbel is in constant contact with him asking him to either move or lift the sit-in, adding that Charbel informed him that the next dialogue
session will tackle the issue of illegitimate weapons and the defense strategy.
Al-Assir said that President Sleiman is keen on following up on this issue.
However, sources close to the president
confirmed to the Daily that Sleiman has not and will not intervene in the
negotiations process, adding that he tasked the state institutions to take the
necessary measures in this regard.
Al-Joumhouria Daily reported on Monday that Hezbollah has
established a new tunnel network outside the region of south Lebanon, adding
that years ago, the party bought vast areas of land in the region of Hermel
near the border with Syria, drilling tunnels and warehouses in the mountainous
area of Chaara in the Bekaa, reaching deep into Syria to the regions of
Saydnaya and Serghaya.
The Daily said that these tunnels are strategically important
since they are far away from military confrontations and close to Syria, adding
“Hezbollah can use them to smuggle rockets and ammunition through
Syria in case of military confrontations with Israelis”.
According to the Daily, monitoring the tunnels and attempting
to locate them have become an “exhausting task for the Israelis”, in
coordination with the west. It was reported that Israel managed to monitor the
tunnel drilling process and has aerial photos of it.
In this regard, sources quoted Israelis
as saying that the next war with Hezbollah would be “a tunnel war” and might
help the Israeli army excel.
House Speaker Nabih Berri described today’s legislative session
as highly important “given that it will tackle a series of projects
related to the citizens’ daily life", he said.
Berri told
An-Nahar Daily on Monday that following today’s
session, the budget and the Lebanese oil must become the top priority issues of both
the cabinet and the Parliament.
Berri said that he instructed “Development and Liberation”
MPs to vote on the public spending project as well as the EDL contract workers
issue.
In the same context, Berri told
Al-Joumhouria Daily he was
satisfied with the government’s performance “which has gotten better after the
tripartite agreement concluded weeks ago between the Prime Minister, the President and I."
However, Berri stressed that the cabinet must work faster and at
a higher level, “according to the imperatives of the status quo”.
Al-Akhbar Daily reported on Monday
that Justice Minister Chakib Kortbawi called on the General Prosecution to
investigate with the head of the Judicial police’s anti-drug department,
Colonel Adel Machmouchi and with officers and workers in the department. His
call was based on loopholes found in the investigations into the case of the 50 kg
of Cocaine seized in Jounieh, where one Dutch national and another Irish
citizen were arrested.
The chief prosecutor of Mount
Lebanon Judge Elias Eid asked the General Prosecution to “take the necessary
legal action” regarding the loopholes in the investigation file, knowing that
he has the power to take this action.
Eid had issued an indictment in the case, in
conformity with the decision issued by the investigating judge.