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.
The UN Ambassador for Human Rights Ali Akil Khalil confirmed through
Asharq
Alawsat Newspaper that Lebanese journalist Fidaa Itani has been
released and is due to arrive into Lebanon shorty.
This information was
provided by an intermediary who goes by the name “Abou Mohammad” who is a
defected Syrian diplomat, Khalil said.
On the issue of the Lebanese detainees, Khalil said that prior to the
announcement of Abou Ibrahim’s alleged death; agreements had been reached to release
the hostages within a span of two weeks.
Sources in Aleppo’s Aazaz have confirmed
that Abou Ibrahim is no longer in the area, following battles launched by the
group Liwaa Aasifat al-Chammal on a nearby Kurdish town. This as four members
of the aforementioned group were buried yesterday with several others wounded
and undergoing treatment.
Sources told
An-Nahar Lebanese Daily that
Abou Ibrahim sustained injuries during the combat whereby his comrades failed
to pull him off the battlefield from the Kurdish town leaving him to be
captured by clan men from the Agha family. Meanwhile the PKK issued a warning against
all members of the Free Syrian Army cautioning it from approaching Kurdish
territories.
Within this context, the file of the 9 Lebanese hostages comes back to
the forefront with Abou Ibrahim now allegedly being detained.
A security source said that the
intelligence unit has caught a man of African origin in the Karakas area, Ras
Beirut on the 2nd day of Eid al-Adha.
Witnesses on the scene mentioned to
Al-Liwaa newspaper that a lady who lives in the locality facing the home of MP
Nuhad Mashnouq’s mother heard suspicious noises on the rooftop of her apartment
building. Feeling anxious, she called on the area’s young men to catch the suspected
male.
Upon the arrival of security members
and after interrogations, it was revealed that the Nigerian national had been
in Turkey and was heading for Israel.
Residents in the area said that MP
Mashnouq visits his mother’s home on a weekly basis.
Security sources
close to Hezbollah in South Lebanon said that the group has finalyzed its
maintenance of phone networks and the installation of security cameras along
the blue line.
The sources who spoke to
Al-Mustaqbal
Daily revealed that those cameras serve for dual purposes; one being the
observation of Israeli maneuvers, the other for keeping a watchful eye on
Lebanese farmers who approach the borders to inspect their properties.
Al- Akhbar Lebanese Daily
mentioned that for the first time in the history of international tribunals,
Hariri’s assassination case will be held in the absence of the defendants,
and with the identity of both witnesses and victims remaining anonymous. The
trial which is set to take place on the 25th of March 2013 may
result in a biased, partial ruling similar
to those issued in “dictatorial nations” whereby the rule of transparency
will not be applied, the Daily added.
“The STL will hinder the course of
the government via its adoption of confidentiality and the world will witness
an unprecedented stylized trial whereby defendants are convicted in absentia,
and both the witnesses and victims remain anonymous,” the article concluded.
Speaker of the house of Parliament
Nabih Berri declared his astonishment at the position adopted by the March14
forces in terms of boycotting the meetings of the joint parliamentary
committee, and the parliamentary bureau, adding that all meetings will be
held as scheduled regardless.
As for the general parliamentary
session set for the 7th of November, Berri said through
An-Nahar
Daily that he has yet to issue an official invitation. In the case the
session is held and quorum is complete, in the absence of a major political
blocs then the session would be dismissed.