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
quoted a high-level security source as saying that there is an urgent need to
hand the Ministry of Telecommunications all the telecommunications data dispensed
yesterday, minus the IMSI or International Mobile Subscriber Identity which
includes 15 numbers.
The source
considered that this step must be completed before Monday, “or else, the
cabinet must take a decision to rectify the situation, especially that “the
data handed are just like skimmed milk”, the source added.
The source said
that the step taken by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel who signed a draft law
to provide the telecom control room with the necessary equipment to have the
data, reflects his high patriotic sense.
Al-Hayat Daily
reported on Sunday that around 20 Lebanese gunmen entered a “crumbling barn”
near the Lebanese-Syrian border and are getting ready to cross the border,
determined to fight alongside their “Syrian brothers” in order to overthrow the
regime of President Bashar Assad.
According to the
newspaper, these men are not over 30 years old and they have the pockets of their
jackets filled with ammunition. They are sitting and getting some rest in the border
region of Al-Kaa hours before entering Syria.
These men clearly
said that they would like to join the Free Syrian Army made of army defectors,
civil fighters and opposition figures. One of them, Abdul Hakim said in good
English “We will head to Idlib; the Free Syrian Army is trying to recover the
city and it needs all the possible help”.
As for Bilal, from
Baalbek, he said “I used to work in a mobile phone shop; I saved some money and
bought an old Kalashnikov rifle from the black market”.
On the eve of
the visit of a delegation from the Syrian National Council to Moscow, upon the
invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian
Kommersant newspaper
expected that the Syrian crisis will suddenly take a sudden turn in regards to
the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The newspaper
quoted a source close to Kremlin as saying that Assad has missed the train, adding
“he no longer has a great chance to remain in power”. The source added that
Moscow is not against the Syrian opposition, but “rejects armed foreign
intervention in Syria”.
The member of
the Syrian National Council’s executive office Georges Sabra told
Acharq al-Awsat Daily on Sunday that he hopes the Russian position on the Syrian crisis
will change positively.
“The Russian
policy is in a transition phase, especially after the recommendations of the
Geneva conference that stressed the necessity of forming a transitional
government”, Sabra said.
Sabra said that during
meetings with Russian officials, the Syrian National Council delegation will
stress that the Syrian regime became part of the past, adding that “the transition phase must therefore be prepared in order to build a pluralistic democratic state”.
Sabra said that the delegation will tell Moscow that forming a transitional
government cannot take place in the presence of Assad and his regime, and that it
must include figures from both the regime and the opposition.
A military source told
An-Nahar Daily on Sunday that the situation along the northern border is
currently calm after the last incidents that caused several deaths and injuries.
The source stressed that the LAF is still taking its usual measures and
increased alert level at the border.
As for the situation in
Akkar that witnessed popular movements after the release of a number of officers, the
source said that the LAF is taking measures in the wait of Monday’s cabinet
session that will tackle these developments and take decisions accordingly.
In this regard,
Al-Mustqbal Daily reported that a series of meetings between political and
religious figures will be held today in Akkar in order to submit the case of late
Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Wahed and late Sheikh Mohammad Merheb to the Judicial
Council. The newspaper knew that if the deadline to take the appropriate
decision which is Monday, is not met, the protest organizers threatened to
escalate their movement.
Sheikh Abdul Wahid and his companion
Sheikh Mohammad al-Mereb were killed on the 20th of May after
failing to stop at an LAF checkpoint while on route to a rally organized by MP
Khaled Daher in Halba to commemorate the killing of Future Movement supporters
during clashes in 2008.