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.
Speaker
Nabih Berri reiterated his call for dialogue amid recent internal and regional developments
which, according to him, require that all parties engage in dialogue under the
umbrella of President Michel Sleiman.
An-Nahar
daily quoted Berri on Friday as saying that he had discussed the said issue
with Fouad Siniora who, in turn, will ponder the dialogue call with his allies.
Berri
added that he had told Siniora, in the presence of PM Najib Mikati, that he
does not want an immediate response.
Asked
about March 14’s reservation over the issue as well as the conditions it set to
resume dialogue, Berri said: “No dialogue with ‘buts’ or restrictions on any tabled
subject that concerns the Lebanese.”
An-Nahar
daily quoted Future Parliamentary bloc leader Fouad Siniora on Friday as saying
that he had revealed to Speaker Nabih Berri his concerns, adding that he welcomes
the call for resuming dialogue.
Siniora
wondered “what is the basis of this dialogue? Who suspended it and for what
reason? What is the fate of the issues agreed on in the last dialogue session? Will
the proposed session commit to the agenda that was previously agreed on or will
it include additional items? What about Hezbollah’s arms issue?”
Siniora added that “March 14 forces would not
accept to resume dialogue if the arms issue were not on the top of the agenda”,
refusing to table the STL issue since, according to him, it was already agreed
upon by all Lebanese and its course cannot be altered.
Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the spokesman for U.S.
forces in Iraq, accused Iran, particularly The Qods Force which is affiliated with
the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard, of supporting extremist Shiite
militias in a bid to put a strain on Iraq’s relations with its Arab
surroundings and the U.S.
In a speech to
Al-Mustaqbal daily, Buchanan
revealed ongoing deliberations with the Iraqi government to hand over the senior
Hezbollah official, Ali Moussa Daqduq to the Iraqi authorities after the security
pact between Baghdad and Washington expires.
Buchanan highlighted the U.S. commitment to
collaborate with Iraq in the long run in order to preserve “Iraq’s democratic experience,”
highlighting ongoing contacts between both sides to discuss the equipment and
training of the Iraqi forces.
As-Safir
daily learned on Friday that U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon ruled out the appointment
of any of the three tabled candidates that were recently considered as the most
likely to succeed U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams, adding
that he prefers to appoint a figure from within the U.N. and whose identity has
not been revealed yet.
U.N.
sources told the daily that the U.N. chief has not taken yet this final
decision, adding that no one can predict his choice in this regard.
The
sources added that Ban Ki-Moon prefers to appoint someone from within the U.N.
“since they will be able to communicate more easily with the different
organizations of the body, add to it the fact that they will strictly apply the
U.N. policy.”
As-Safir
daily quoted Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas on Friday as saying that, 4 days
earlier, he had sent a letter to all parties that have participated in the Cost
of Living Index Committee meetings, among which is the General Labor
Confederation (GLC), urging them to take clear and steadfast positions on each of
the eight points included in the recommendations that the minister of Labor has
concluded from the committee’s meetings and submitted to the cabinet.
Nahhas
stressed that all answers, whether approving or disapproving, must be written
and well explained so that any party will not rescind its position due to any unforeseen
development.
Commenting on the declaration that the GLC will reply
via email; Nahhas said “I am ready to receive their reply even through a
carrier pigeon.”