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.
Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam stressed that he is
still awaiting the proposals of the political parties to name the ministers of the upcoming cabinet.
Salam told
as-Safir Daily that he requested that all parties
present their suggestions in order for him to form a cabinet agreed upon by all factions.
In this context, sources close to Salam told the newspaper
that the PM-Designate and the President will choose two of the ministers
according to the required criteria, in reference to ministers who are not
candidates for the Parliamentary elections.
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri told
an-Nahar Newspaper that he
does not seek to rush the PM-Designate Tammam Salam in forming the cabinet,
noting that the latter still has time.
“We are open to discussions with Salam in order to reach a
comprehensive political cabinet,” he added.
On the other hand, the daily reported that the work of the
parliamentary communications committee is directly linked to the solution
related to the cabinet's formation.
Commenting on the electoral draft law, Berri said that the one
month deadline before the convening of the Parliament session expected to be
held on the 15th of May, will be a decisive period, stressing that
the deputies must “come up with a solution or otherwise not leave the Parliament without a new electoral law.”
The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Assiri told
an-Nahar
Daily that his meeting with caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil on Tuesday
comes within a series of contacts based on Saudi Arabia’s keenness on Lebanon’s
unity and stability.
Assiri hoped that the country will be moving forward toward a
better stage, pointing out that the Lebanese economy has been seeing an improvement which will reflect on the country's political scene as well.
In this context, sources close to Assiri said that the
latter told caretaker Minister Bassil that Lebanon will witness a promising
summer.
Al-Joumhouria Daily reported that the Secretariat General of
the March 14 coalition, which is expected to hold its regular meeting later in the
day, will launch a clear and explicit call on Hezbollah to “immediately
withdraw from Syria to prevent the Hermel events from spreading throughout the
country.”
The daily added that the March 14 forces strongly condemned the
ongoing violations of Lebanon's sovereignty, and called for controlling the
Lebanese-Syrian borders through the implementation of the related international
resolutions.
In this context, the head of the British-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told
an-Nahar Daily that forces
affiliated with Hezbollah are leading the battles on the field in Reef
al-Kassir in Syria.
An-Nahar daily reported that the permanent Military court headed by Brigadier General Khalil Ibrahim set the 3rd
of June a date for the trial in absentia of the defendant Mahmoud al-Hayek on
charges of attempting to assassinate MP Boutros Harb in June 2012.