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.
Sources have reported that the security apparatuses received
during the past few hours the communications data and the IMSI covering the
period of time when two assassination attempts took place targeting Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea and MP Boutros Harb.
The same sources told
al-Mustaqbal Daily that the competent
security apparatuses received the data from MTC company, and still waiting for
the data of Alfa company.
Sources close to President Michel Sleiman stressed that the
President will intensify his efforts in order to secure the success for the
national dialogue session expected to be held on August 16.
The sources told
al-Hayat newspaper that the president contacted
officials from the Future movement to discuss the position of March 14 coalition
to boycott the dialogue session.
Separately, the daily reported that indirect calls were made
with Hezbollah leadership concerning the statement of the head of Loyalty to
the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad who said that there is no need for a defense
strategy. The party stressed that Raad’s
statement reflects his own point of view not the party’s opinion, noting that
the defense strategy was included in the dialogue’s agenda.
Abu Ibrahim, one of the kidnappers
of the 11 Lebanese hostages, spoke of his concerns about other rebel leaders
who were trying to steer Syria’s revolution towards extremism—and of his own
preference for political moderation and openness.
In an interview with “
The New Yorker”,
Abu Ibrahim said that he had let the other passengers go but kept the eleven because
they had military I.D.s, and because of his suspicions that they were really
Hezbollah agents doing surveillance in the area on behalf of the Assad regime. They
were not really prisoners, he said, but his “guests for now.”
When the
reporter asked to meet the men, in the Baath Party headquarters in Azaz, Abu
Ibrahim allowed him to meet with three of them, though only in his presence.
They said they were Ali Zagheeb, a man of fifty-four, from a village in the
Bekaa Valley. The oldest of the three Zagheeb said he was a mukhtar, a
traditional community leader. Awad Ibrahim, forty-six, a travel agent, from
Baalbek; and Ali Hussein Abbas, twenty-nine, was from southern Lebanon and
described himself as a religious preacher.
When the
reporter asked them how they came to be Abu Ibrahim’s guests, each of them gave
a rousing testimonial as to their host’s humanity and generosity, and their
hopes that the Free Syrian Army would soon vanquish the evil Assad regime.
Abbas, the
preacher, said, “First, I want to say that we are not hostages, but guests of a
really great man—his name is Hajji Abu Ibrahim.” Awad, the travel agent, said,
“As God is my witness and I repeat it three times, I have never seen such a man
as this, and this experience has opened my eyes about the revolution in Syria.
When I go home I want to help support its revolution.”
When they were asked if they were
members of Hezbollah, they all denied, shaking their heads. Awad, the travel
agent said, “Not all Shiites in Lebanon are members of Hezbollah, you know.”