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

Ad-Diyar: Arab diplomatic source: Security, political incidents in Lebanon

Bassil won’t get $1.2 billion as Aoun on edge of resignations

A high-ranking Arab source familiar with the Lebanon situation told Ad-Diyar that the coming few weeks would witness both political and security incidents, starting off from the unrest in Syria and the indictment to persistent disputes among the Lebanese parties. 

“We are following up on events [in Lebanon] and we expect political and security incidents to take place in the coming few weeks,” the source said. However, he ruled out assassinations of Lebanese figures but hinted that internal and external intelligence might get involved in bombing attacks in Lebanon.

The Arab source said external powers would play a prominent role, with NATO likely to plan [attacks] against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Regarding the electricity issue, which sparked a wide-ranging controversy and came close to undermining the government structure and collapse the majority as a result of the Cabinet failure to endorse a power plan, contacts continued well into the night Tuesday in an effort to reach a unanimous agreement ahead of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

The electricity bill remained a thorny debate during a Cabinet meeting in Beiteddine [Chouf mountains] Tuesday as some questions went unanswered and ministers agreed to postpone them for a meeting to be held Wednesday morning, noting that Energy Minister Jibran Bassil was unlikely to get $1.2 billion allocated to him for the power plan, according to sources.

But insiders said that Bassil was facing strong opposition in terms of money spending. This will be a point of contention among the allies within the government.

As-Safir: Jumblatt: I reject blackmail even if alliance is shaken

Electricity bill faces a last chance

Government postponed endorsement of an electricity bill for a meeting to be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Baabda Palace, only 90 minutes ahead of a parliamentary session after Cabinet failed to approve the power plan Tuesday amid differences among ministers, which signals the emergence of a growing “confidence crisis” within the ruling coalition.

Wednesday’s meeting is significant as it would be a kind of a “last chance” – not only to salvage the proposed [electricity] plan, but also to shield the government against the impact which may result from failure to approve the bill amid Gen. Michel Aoun’s adherence to the equation “electricity in exchange for the government.” MP Walid Jumblatt, however, told As-Safir that he rejects the mere fact of a “last-chance used as a means of pressure.”

Contacts intensified in the past few hours between government officials in an effort to create conditions for success during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting which faces the challenge of reconciling the logic that calls for the involvement of specialists from outside the Energy Ministry to oversee and manage the electricity plan – as suggested by ministers from Jumblatt’s National Struggle Front – and the logic supported by ministers from [Aoun’s] Change and Reform bloc that says the minister is in charge and must not share his powers.

Pending outcome of the Cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, Jumblatt told As-Safir that his Cabinet ministers face two options: either their views on the electricity bill be taken into account and an agreement will be reached based on a clear outlook or they would stick to their reservations.

“It is unacceptable to allocate $1.2 billion of funds as part of a first allocation of a plan without a certain mechanism to ensure its fate,” Jumblatt said.

While he believed Bassil did not provide the necessary and convincing explanations to a lot of administrative and technical questions, Jumblatt indirectly responded to Gen. Michel Aoun, who stressed on sticking to his stance, saying: “We won’t succumb to the logic of blackmail practiced on us on the basis that either we go wherever they want or face woes.”

“We don’t care even if we as Struggle Front are a minority, and I don’t care if this stance will shake up the existing political alliance,” Jumbaltt added.

Bassil, for his part, told As-Safir there are no justifications for not adopting the electricity bill, adding that he had answered all questions “and therefore everything became clear.”

He was surprised that Jumblatt ministers had proposed setting up a technical team to follow up on implementation of the electricity plan, stressing that in line with the Constitution the minister is “head of his administration. However, we are willing to discuss the issue if the same thing will be applied on the other ministries.”  

An-Nahar: Electricity bill faces growing dispute

First meeting between Hariri and [Saudi] King Abdullah since the crisis

The government failed to approve the electricity bill during a lengthy meeting in Beiteddine Tuesday, prompting Cabinet to schedule another session at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Baabda Palace ahead of a Parliament session scheduled for later in the day.

Meanwhile, a significant political development took place when Saudi King Abdullah met former Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Mecca. Hariri’s media office said Hariri had an iftar dinner with King Abdullah  in the presence of a number of senior Saudi officials.

An-Nahar has learned that the meeting was the first between King Abdullah and Hariri since the political crisis broke out in Lebanon in January and led to the resignation of Hariri’s government. The meeting also came after the collapse of efforts by what was known as the “S-S” [as Saudi Arabia and Syria intervened to try to find a solution for the Lebanese crisis at the time.]

The source pointed out that King Abdullah’s choice to meet Hariri as a first Lebanese figure after a long time following the crisis has many implications and consequences. 

Cabinet discussed the electricity plan at length Tuesday but the dispute over spending the bill remains.