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.
National Struggle
Front leader MP Walid Jumblatt told
As-Safir Daily on Wednesday that he is open
to any “positive electoral law” and he is ready to discuss it. He warned that
the areas surrounding Lebanon “resemble a volcano whose lava must definitely be
avoided.” He pointed out that some leaders are not looking at the big picture; “instead,
they are getting caught up in the small details.”
Jumblatt
stressed that while elections are crucial, they are temporary, adding “any
party that thinks it can win over the other through the structure of the
electoral law is mistaken.”
He called for finding a national consensus following
the elections.
Al-Akhbar Daily reported on Wednesday that the war sweeping through
Syria includes an “electronic war”, adding that an activist group which calls
itself “The Electronic Syrian Army” has finally managed to hack many important
official websites in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and has downloaded
thousands of confidential documents.
Al-Akhbar received a copy of these documents through a
mediator and published two of them pertaining to cables sent by the Qatari
Foreign Ministry. The first cable includes the minutes of a meeting held between
the Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani and Egyptian President Mohammad
Morsi in September 2012 to tackle the situation in Syria. During the meeting,
Hamad reportedly mentioned a phone call with Russia to convince it of abandoning
President Bashar Assad. Hamad also talked about offers to keep and protect Russia’s maritime base in Syria by “the Free Syrian Army”.
As for the second document, it includes the minutes of a
meeting held between Qatari Crown Prince Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in October 2011. The latter reportedly
stressed that President Bashar Assad must not be given the chance to rule until
2014 since this will allow him to destroy the opposition completely.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is due to
hold a speech at 6:30 pm on Friday during the ritual ceremony held by the party
to celebrate Prophet Mohammad’s birth and the “Islamic Unity Week” in Beirut’s
southern suburbs. He will be discussing an array of issues, according to
Al-Joumhouria
Daily.
He will discuss the issue of Islamic Unity and the means to
face the “Takfeeri” tendencies widespread in the Arab and Islamic world.
Nasrallah is also expected to condemn the sectarian blasts ripping through Pakistan,
Iraq and a number of Islamic countries.
Nasrallah is expected tackle the Syrian crisis, stressing
that there is no deadlock to deal with in the first place. He will mention the
initiative launched by Syrian President Bashar Assad and call for its support.
He will reportedly reiterate the call for dialogue between the regime and the
opposition, stressing that the disappointment of those who are betting on the
regime’s fall will increase day after day “in light of the opposition’s disintegration,
failure and retreat on the ground.” Nasrallah will stress that the only
solution in Syria is of a political nature.
On the domestic level, Nasrallah will talk about the upcoming
parliamentary elections, calling on all parties to be open, to cooperate, to
steer clear from sectarian incitement, reach a consensus and ease the political
rhetoric.
European sources told
Al-Akhbar Daily on Wednesday that the
United Nations have sent an official request to the Lebanese authorities to
allow the UNIFIL troops deployed south of the Litani River to use the Riyaq
military airport. The request included allowing UNIFIL experts to inspect the
airport and check if it was suitable for the landing of UNIFIL’s choppers.
“This request was justified as being a major step in
preparations to face possible medical evacuations by air of UNIFIL members working
as observers in Syria,” the sources said.
According to sources close to UNIFIL troops in Naqoura, the
UNIFIL’s general command briefed the concerned Lebanese authorities on the all details
pertaining to a chopper it intends to send to the Riyaq airport, “in a
practical step to implement the plan of medical evacuation of U.N. troops operating
in Syria when necessary.”
According to
Al-Akhbar, the concerned Lebanese
authorities approved the UNIFIL’s request.
Sources
close to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri told
Acharq al-Awsat Daily on
Wednesday that the Syrian authorities’ decision to freeze the assets of Hariri
and MP Okab Sakr has no material impact “since neither one of them has
properties or assets in Syria.”
The sources
added that late Rafic Hariri used to own a 4-story building in the Syrian
capital but the identity of the person who inherited it following his
assassination in 2006 is still surrounded by ambiguity.