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Lebanon's Arabic press digest - Aug. 23, 2011

Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Tuesday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

Al-Mustaqbal: Blanford stresses TIME cannot publish article unless it is very sure

The TIME interview with one of the Hezbollah suspects in the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri remained the focal point of domestic attention Monday as the government scene seemed reeling from the impact and rapid developments concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. 

The TIME interview was the focus of a meeting Tuesday between State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and the Beirut-based TIME correspondent Nicholas Blanford who reiterated that he had nothing to do with the interview or where it came from. Blanford, however, stressed the reliability of the interview, saying TIME magazine “cannot publish an interview of this kind without means for ascertaining its credibility."

For his part, the TIME magazine's managing editor stressed the “validity” of the interview, insisting it was “not fabricated by the international tribunal.” He pointed out that the reporter who conducted the interview is based in Lebanon, adding that “TIME has a lot of reporters in Lebanon.”

“We are aware of Hezbollah's concerns on the interview,” he said.

Meanwhile, Future Movement Secretary-General Ahmad Hariri called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati to convince Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to “hand over the four accused [men] or leave with your government.”

Hariri’s remarks came during a Monday Iftar in Western Bekaa in east Lebanon.

 

As-Safir: Electricity crisis: A plan or political decision to end mafias?

The government Tuesday faces an electricity test as Cabinet is expected to discuss the power plan - submitted by Energy Minister Jibran Bassil - during a meeting to be held in Beiteddine, the Chouf mountains. But signs which emerged on the eve of the meeting ruled out the likelihood that Cabinet would approve the proposal during today’s session as the issue requires further debate on a mechanism for implementation as well as establishing a regulatory body.

 

Al-Liwaa: Cabinet to discuss security-political plan to face repercussions of Arab revolutions

Bassil fails to win preliminary support for electricity bill … cost exceeds $5 billion 

TIME interview [issue] goes to STL after Mirza-Blanford meet

Senior officials are monitoring with deep concern unrest in the Arab world, particularly in Syria and Libya, amid heated domestic rhetoric on the [STL] indictment, its impact on Lebanon, the arrest of the four accused and the TIME interview that nearly took away confidence in the Mikati government and Hezbollah as security incidents reverberated across Lebanon - starting with the Estonians and the death of a couple in the Jbeil province all the way to the Antelias explosion and efforts to determine whether it had been a terroris act.

TIME reporter Nicholas Blanford emerged from a meeting with State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and expressed his willingness to appear before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

A ministerial meeting Monday to discuss Bassil’s electricity bill did not shift the media, political or judicial attention from what is ongoing in Libya. Lebanese, however, differed in opinion on this issue with one political camp urging the government to work toward uncovering the fate of Imam Musa al-Sadr [who went missing in Libya more than three decades ago] and expressing satisfaction at the fall of Gadhafi’s regime; the other camp believed that developments in Libya may be a prelude to changes in other Arab countries, including Syria, while MP Walid Jumblatt began counting the heads of states who have been toppled, saying Gadhafi was third in line.

Cabinet will discuss Tuesday, aside from the 67 items on its agenda, the political and security developments.

Ministerial sources ruled out the possibility that Cabinet would approve Bassil’s electricity bill as the 16 ministers who attended Monday’s meeting were divided into three groups: a group supporting Mikati, another with Jumblatt and a third made of [Michel Aoun’s] Change and Reform bloc as well as Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi appeared to have deliberately remained silent.

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