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-Akhbar

Jumblatt no longer afraid of Syria

Whenever MP Walid Jumblatt’s policy shift and alliances shuffle he pleases one political camp and upsets the other. They want him to be with them but he only wants to be with himself and his community. His concerns led him to reconcile with Hezbollah and Syria. This cost him dearly. One day he abandons Damascus, and may abandon his Progressive Socialist Party, but without intimidation.

What Jumblatt said during the PSP’s general assembly meeting Sunday resembled what he announced on Aug. 2, 2009 following parliamentary election. On the latter day, Jumblatt quit the March 14 coalition to somewhere without an identity – but with no enemies – surrounded by allies, skeptics and conservatives. On Oct.30, 2011, Jumblatt moved from this mysterious situation to another one, perhaps worse – a place full of foes and people rejoicing over someone’s grief.

Jumblatt did not quit [the Future Movement-led] March 14 to join the [Hezbollah-led] March 8 alliance. Neither did he abandon his alliance with Hezbollah and Syria to return to March 14.

Timing of the new position suggests Jumblatt has got over his fear of Syria, which is plunged into a bloody crisis and where there are fears of a regime collapse.

However, Jumblatt seemed unable to get rid of Hezbollah, which has drawn up red lines since 2008 that the Druze leader cannot cross.

Ad-Diyar

Syria crisis with Arab League enters the unknown after Doha

NATO confirms no intervention after Assad’s warning of big earthquake

Government work paralyzed in Lebanon and proportional-based elections a major dispute

Syria’s crisis with the Arab League entered the unknown ahead of an Arab League meeting in Cairo Wednesday and amid a row between Syria and the Arab delegation that visited Damascus. That delegation had to wait for Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem to come to Doha to respond to an Arab League plan to end the eight-month uprising.

Moallem met the head of the Arab delegation as well as Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The Syrian position is as follows:

1- What is taking place in Syria is an internal affair, inside an Arab country, and therefore the Arab League has no right to impose conditions on Syria.

2- Syria is a sovereign state and will not take orders to pullout security forces from the streets as these forces are trying to curb riots, troublemakers and clashes.

3- The Arab League is warned against approaching the U.N. Otherwise, the Arab League will be responsible for any “major flare-up.”

4- Following Syrian President Bashar Assad’s warning of a “major earthquake” in the region in the event the West intervened in Syria, NATO completely ruled out any [military] intervention in Syria.

The situation tends to escalate. Information made available to Ad-Diyar from Cairo said the Arab League would vote against Syria.

In Lebanon, a Finance Ministry decision that Okayed spending based on the 2005 state budget will lead to a freeze of all government activities and paralyze its work.

Cabinet will meet Tuesday to discuss several items, including the key issue relating to the election law. While MP Walid Jumblatt promised the resistance [Hezbollah] not to bring down the government by withdrawing his ministers for any reason, he is willing to pull out his ministers if the election law is approved based on a proportional representation system in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The majority of government members favor proportional-based elections, while Jumblatt is totally against it.

As-Safir

Beijing against sanctions on Lebanon over STL

Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wu Zexian stresses as much as possible on issues of bilateral relations between Beijing and Beirut. He avoids diving into the details of internal Lebanese affairs, while focusing on the trade exchange volume and tourism between the two countries.

During his first interview with As-Safir in June, the Chinese ambassador revealed that his country has no projects in Lebanon, prompting Lebanese officials – Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the forefront – to address the serious lack of cooperation with China.

Five months later, Zexian touches on the same issue, pointing to a slight improvement, notably electricity, railways and gas extraction from the Mediterranean Sea.

Zexian describes as “very good” trade exchange between the two countries, with the exception of the Lebanon-China trade imbalance. “Lebanon’s exports to China are [small] compared to China imports,” he says.

Regarding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Zexian said China’s position in the event the U.N. imposed sanctions on Lebanon if it failed to fund the STL is this:

"In principle, China does not favor resorting to the option of sanctions because such action would not do any good and instead make things complicated and more serious and does not contribute to solving the problem. We would like to see that all countries live in peace and quiet and, therefore, we favor a quiet solution that does not cause additional damage."

On Syria, Zexian said China believes any solution must be peaceful, adding that his country is against any foreign meddling that would put pressure on any country and consequently against military intervention in Syria.

Al-Mustaqbal

Zahra uncovers Aoun supporters receiving arms, training

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra revealed that supporters of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun have been "receiving arms and training in preparation for security work."

“Aoun has no right to accuse others of inciting sectarian rift when he is doing the same thing,” Zahra said.

He said Hezbollah would not do give up its alliance with Aoun “because it won’t find a better [mouthpiece] to promote its policies and aspirations.”