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.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated in Monday’s edition of
As-Safir
Daily that those anticipating his resignation are wasting their time, adding that
the government will remain in power come the next elections.
“The government has passed through tumultuous
times, but it has proven time and again that it is a government of nine lives,”
Mikati stressed.
Mikati indicated that energy
producing vessels are to arrive to Lebanese waters before the end of the year,
and that a committee to run the petroleum sector will soon be formed.
Commenting on the conditions on the
Lebanese-Syrian border, Mikati confirmed that objecting to violations committed
against the country’s sovereignty make Lebanon a stronger country.
“Our stances should reverberate loudly against
trespasses on our sovereignty whether it is by the Israeli enemy or our Syrian
brethren” he stressed.
Mikati refused to be drawn to “some
political hardliners approach in the country” saying that the “expulsion of the
Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon is out of the question”.
Member of the
Change and Reform Bloc MP Alain Aoun stressed that relations with Syria had
never been related to electoral gains, adding that the Free Patriotic Movement has
lost in areas such as Kesserwan, Byblos, Ashrafieh, and the northern Metn due
to its relations with Syria.
In an interview
with
Al-Liwaa, Aoun said: “Lebanon is bound to improve relations with Syria, we
have reached out to the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party, however Geagea’s
reactions have indicated his unwillingness, and both parties have opted for
taking escalatory steps”.
“We are not a side
in the Syrian conflict, and do not support the regime against its people,” he
added.
On Tripoli, Aoun said that reasons
behind clashes teamed with increasing instability and kidnappings are due to
the LAF not having a political cover.
Commenting
on the issue of Michel Samaha, Aoun said: “the party is not practicing a policy
of self-dissociation in those regards, however the nature of the case makes it
volatile and we await the verdict of the judiciary before we announce our
stance".
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that 50
copies of a jihadi book titled “Issues of Jihad Jurisprudence– “Masa’el min
Foqh al-Dima’a” were found packed on the shored of Tripoli a few days ago. The
book which bears Al-Qaeda “takfiri” ideology promotes extremism and fanaticism.
The book encourages executions and dubs all countries not governed by Islam as
countries open for war.
According to the newspaper, copies
of the book have been distributed throughout Tripoli coinciding with the
publication of excerpts on jihadi forums, and web pages including Facebook under
the banner of: “the bomb gift, to our jihadi brethren in the Levant”.
The book authored by Egyptian Sheikh
Abdul Rahman Al-Ali was renamed “Al-Zarqawi, as I know him” by Al-Qaeda Sheikh
Maysarra Ghareeb, but is widely popularized as “Foqh al-Dima’a – the Jurisprudence
of Blood” on the jihadi scene.
Al-Joumhouria Daily reported that Under Secretary for Terrorism and Illicit
Finance at the US Department of Treasury David Cohen will be on a visit to Beirut
on Tuesday where he will be meeting Lebanese officials and Lebanon’s Central
Bank Governor Riad Salameh.
In this regard, Minister of Economy
Nicholas Nahhas said that the visit is expected to harbor positive results,
adding that the standards applied throughout the Lebanese banking sector have
ensured the safety of the division on the international arena.
Political sources said that Cohen’s
visit carries warnings on the consequences of breaching financial sanctions imposed on
Syria and Iran, noting that this warning was also relayed to Switzerland.
Security sources
have revealed via
Al-Joumhouria Daily that there may be a possible involvement of
a number of media persons utilizing press cards in order to expose targets in
Tripoli and surrounding areas. Investigations are ongoing on several levels
with arrested persons in the case of abducting Syrian opposition members.
In
this regard, sources close to a top official stated that what had happened in
Tripoli on Sunday with the LAF catching 3 assailants in the act of the
attempted kidnap of a Syrian opposition member shows that some groups are
working to benefit from chaotic events whilst exploiting political tension in
the area and the country.