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.
Al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Thursday Wikileaks cable 2, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on 02/01/2008 saying that the President Michel Sleiman described the head of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun as being “a crazy man", preparing for chaos in the streets.
According to the cable Sleiman said “it is a shame how Aoun is using General Francois el Hajj’s assassination for his own political interests.”
“Aoun is trying to weaken my position and my influence in Lebanon as high officials in the Army came to me and told me about rumors saying that I was an inefficient Army Commander implicated in Hajj’s assassination.”
Al-Mustaqbal reported that Sleiman met with former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman on the 1st of January 2008 and told him about Aoun’s vision to become a President and the only Christian leader in Lebanon using all means to fulfill his dreams even if he will have incite strife within the army itself and promote for its division.
Sleiman told Feltman that there is a need for the U.S. administration to intervene in this regard to stop Aoun plans before it is too late. Sleiman stressed that there is a need to convince the Syrian regime that it is in their interest to hold presidential election in Lebanon to end the political vacuum, accusing Hezbollah and the Amal movement of slowing that process.
Sources close to the Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told
Al-Liwaa newspaper that he stressed, during a general meeting, the importance of preserving a calm security level in Lebanon, especially with the upcoming events, adding that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon should not affect the unity of the Lebanese people.
Sayyed Nasrallah refused the STL’s funding, wondering why the media is focusing on the issue so far ahead of the deadline.
“We should all unite to support PM Najib Mikati so we can all together face the threats and start preparing for the upcoming elections in 2013”, Nasrallah was quoted as saying.
Al-Liwaa reported that the General Secretary of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon asked from Lebanon to pay its share of the STL before the end of this month [October].
Former Democratic Gathering member Fouad Saad told
Al-Liwaa newspaper that the Head of the Progressive Socialist Party hosted his previous allies for dinner last night at his residence in Clemenceau.
“This is the healthy relation that we established before, Jumblatt cannot abandon us and we need him too”,
Al-Liwaa quoted Saad as saying.
He added that Jumblatt’s move to dissolve the Democratic Gathering was made in a critical political period and he had no other choice.
In this regard, sources close to Jumblatt said that the gathering at his residence does not establish any political move or stance but proves the Druze leader maintains a moderate position between PM Mikati and President Michel Sleiman.
According to
Al-Hayat the head of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL) will meet PM Najib Mikati on Thursday to discuss pending issues in the wage adjustment draft law the way it was presented during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Ghosn said that the current draft law carries negative impacts on hierarchies in public administrations and will not solve the issue as all prices will rise.
Ghosn told Al-Hayat newspaper that if all workers should benefit from an additional 200 LBP [the decided raise on the minimum salaries], then such a decision would affect the 1943 law mentioning wage adjustments and other public administration concepts.
Asked about the lack of coordination between the Union bodies and their objection on the CGTL decisions he said “Professors asked for 7 raise degrees and got 4; those are the rules in any labor union it is all about bargaining, we want to preserve our dignity before anything else.
Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported about unclear information mentioning a Syrian Armed Forces infiltration in Anjar in West Bekaa.
Witnesses told the newspaper that 2 tanks along with several Syrian soldiers entered the border from Majdel Anjar at 6pm on Wednesday night on an unknown mission.
In this regard military sources official told
al-Joumhouria that more than 20 Syrian soldiers were suddenly deployed in the area and took fighting position but did not enter the Lebanese territory.
The sources added the rumors about several smuggling incident on the border between Lebanon and Syria are not true and that the borders are controlled.