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 Lebanese cabinet is expected to hold a session on Thursday afternoon at the Baabda Palace that will be presided by President Michel Sleiman. Only one item will be on the agenda: the file of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
In this context,
An Nahar Daily said that the ministerial meeting that was held on Wednesday aimed at containing the repercussions of the Syrian Ambassador’s positions and limiting the discussions during the cabinet session to the humanitarian, economic and social aspects of this case.
The aggravating situation of this file required an emergency plan that was set and distributed to all ministers who will be discussing in details all its items today during their meeting.
The Daily added that according to the executive summary of the plan, the number of the officially registered refugees is 150,000, while the number of the unregistered Syrian nationals who fled to Lebanon is estimated at 50,000.
According to the newspaper, ministerial speculations that weren’t mentioned in the plan expected that the number of the refugees will increase during the six upcoming months to reach 300,000.
The plan includes also a study on the miserable situation of the communities hosting these refugees that aggravated with the increasing numbers of the Syrian visitors.
The total budget of this plan is estimated at $ 3,276,000.
Al Akhbar Daily published that it is expected that Interior Minister Marwan Charbel will propose during the cabinet's session on Thursday the issue of an extended period for the telecommunications data access.
According to security sources, the security commanders who met on Wednesday are asking for an extended period to have access to the data, whereby Charbel was informed to broach the subject during the cabinet’s meeting.
In an interview with
As Safir Newspaper, Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said that the influx of displaced Syrian and Palestinian nationals from Syria is causing inflation in the number of residents in Lebanon.
“If we are accused of racism for trying to prevent a social explosion, it doesn’t matter. It’s just another sacrifice that we have to make for the sake of the country,” Bassil stated.
Bassil added that the Free Patriotic Movement is calling for the monitoring of the borders and not their closure, urging foreign countries involved in the Syrian crisis "to assume responsibility for their actions and receive some of the Syrian refugees, especially that they can offer them better living conditions."
In an interview with
Al Liwaa Daily, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that he had met with the relatives of the pilgrims kidnapped in Syria’s Aazaz who organized a protest on Wednesday outside the offices of the Turkish airlines and threatened to take escalatory measures.
Charbel added that he convinced the families to suspend their movements stressing that communications with the Turkish authorities were resumed.
Separately, Charbel told
As Safir Daily that he had set a detailed report on the security approach of Syrian refugees' case that will be discussed during the cabinet's session on Thursday.