Press digest for Tuesday October 18, 2011

• Bassil: the ball is in their hands

According to As-Safir the Minister of Energy Gebran Bassil stressed the importance of issuing applicable laws that would immediately set the guidelines for extracting Lebanon’s offshore resources.

Bassil told the newspaper that “The ministry of Energy has completed its research and studies in this regard, the ball is now in the hands of the government and they should issue applicable laws before the end of the year so we can proceed with the extraction before it is too late”.

• Jibril to Sharq al Awsat: Ghaddafi is trying to get back to power

According to al Sharq al Awsat newspaper Libya's interim cabinet leader and the member of the Libyan National Council (LTC) Mahmoud Jibril revealed a possible plan for Qaddafi to return to power who is trying to benefit from the ongoing political disputes among the rebels ranks.

Jibril told the newspaper that Ghaddafi is still in Libya and is trying to benefit from the political differences between the rebels and the LTC in an attempt to impose his political rule that was lost following the invasion of his stronghold in Bab al Aziziya.

Jibril said that he would resign from his current post at the LTC after the liberation of Sirte, the last stronghold of the previous Libyan leader, adding that he would not back down on his decision.  

• Qassem speech taken out of context

Ministerial sources told Al-Liwaa newspaper that the speech of the deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah Sheikh Naim Qassem regarding the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was taken out of context, adding that it is probable that Qassem was not referring to the STL.

The sources added that PM Najib Mikati did not get any negative feedback from Hezbollah regarding the STL regardless of what is being reported in the media especially those who spoke about the General Secretary of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s rejection of the STL and its funding.

Sources close to Hezbollah pointed out that this issue is being discussed without any expected outcome.

• How were the Jassems kidnapped?

According to An-Nahar the General Director of the Lebanese Internal Security General Ashraf Rifi decided to separate the cases of the kidnapped engineer Joseph Sader earlier this month, the four kidnapped Syrian brothers from the Jassem family and the case of the former Vice President of the Baath Party in Lebanon, Shebli al Aysami, although the kidnapping techniques were similar.

An-Nahar received a security report concerning the kidnapping of the 4 brothers written in February 2011 mentioning that some witnesses reported that the kidnapping took place in front of Baabda Serail where Lieutenant Salah Ali Al Hajj , who is a member of the security forces protecting the Syrian Embassy in Beirut.

The report added that Al Hajj used 2 ISF cars put under his disposition for the embassy security to kidnap the Jassem brothers and were handed over to activists from the Popular Front - General Command in Yanta on the Lebanese-Syrian border.