Press digest for Tuesday September 13, 2011

5^min

Berri: March 14 reactions prove they “worship a goddess made of dates”

Speaker Nabih Berri told “An-Nahar” newspaper that he regrets the severe attack launched by March 14 coalition against Patriarch Beshara Rai, adding “the Patriarch’s only crime is that he is well aware of the dimensions of the events in Syria and the region; his major goal is protecting the Christians and the rest of the Lebanese”.

Berri also told “As-Safir” newspaper that the emotive reactions of March 14 coalition on the Patriarch’s latest statements prove that “they worship a goddess made of dates that they don’t hesitate to eat when hungry”. Berri denounced those who lost their temper and breached the protocol in addressing a Patriarch, “just because he gave a dissenting opinion”.

Wikileaks citing Mikati: Syria’s loyalists are not “in love with” President Sleiman“

PM Najib Mikati predicted a civil war in Lebanon if Nassib Lahoud became president”, “al-Mustaqbal” newspaper reported citing a leaked cable sent by the U.S. embassy in Beirut on 1/11/2007 and published on the “Wikileaks” website as cable number 1712.

According to the same cable, Mikati also said that Syria’s loyalists are not “in love with” president Michel Sleiman, despite rumors.

“MP Michel Aoun is still one of the main obstacles hindering any solution to the presidency issue”, Mikati said according to the leaked cable. “Aoun must ally with March 14 coalition in order to legitimize all presidential elections”.

On solving the presidency problem in Lebanon, Mikati said “we can’t rely on the Arabs”.

The cable mentioned a meeting held then between Jeffrey Feltman and Mikati on October 31st 2007 where Mikati refused the accusations hurled by Syria’s loyalists to the Lebanese presidential elections’ candidates: governor of the Bank of Lebanon Riyad Salameh, Minister of Justice Charl Rizk, MP Robert Ghanem, the former Head of the Lawyers' Syndicate Chakib Kortbawi and Army commander Michel Sleiman. Mikati said “these accusations lacked credibility”.

Rai: I told the truth and I will keep telling it

“As-Safir” newspaper reported that the meeting held Monday between Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai and Change and Reform bloc Head MP Michel Aoun touched on nearly everything: weapons, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), fundamentalist movements, Syria, the electoral law and the challenges facing Christians in Lebanon and the region.

The Patriarch opened the meeting with the main events of his visit to France, and then Aoun briefed him on the current political situation following the approval of the electricity plan, according to “As-Safir”.

The meeting did not spare the campaign launched against the Patriarch who said “I told the truth and I will keep telling it; I am not biased toward anyone”.

“Rai’s statements in France were not the result of a passing political caprice, but the result of a drastic change in the behavior of the Maronite Church that decided to protect the Christians’ interests and presence in Lebanon, Syria and the rest of the Middle East”, the newspaper added based on well-informed sources.

Hariri sources: There was no “rupture” with Berri

According to “Acharq al-Awsat” newspaper, sources close to former PM Saad Hariri said that the last speech made by House Speaker Nabih Berri at the commemoration of Imam Moussa Sadr’s disappearance in Baalbeck has pushed the two parties away from communication, adding “the dispute between Berri and Hariri is not personal; it is based on different strategic choices and mainly on Berri’s stance on the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)”.

The sources added that Berri took a violent and tough stance on the controversial issues that divide Lebanon in the speech he delivered in Baalbeck ,thus “deepening the dispute”.

“The timing of the Wikileaks cables’ publication was not intended to be a reaction to Baalbeck’s speech”, the sources said.

The sources refused the use of the word “rupture” to describe the current relations between Berri and Hariri, adding that the political relations between them are not and will not be interrupted.

“The positions Berri will take on the STL and other important issues will determine the nature of relations with Hariri”, the sources added.