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Lebanon's Arabic press digest - Nov. 14, 2011

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

An-Nahar

Opposition considering putting foreign minister to confidence vote

Even though President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati rushed Sunday to justify Lebanon’s official objection to the Arab League decision regarding the crisis in Syria, the government seemed to be headed toward a face-off, as repercussions of its position looked likely to spark unending debate.

Amid the mounting campaign by the opposition against the government, a day after Lebanon slammed the Arab League decision to suspend Syria’s membership approved by 18 Arab countries, ministerial sources expressed fear that government is going to face a hard time. The sources also expressed concerns that the government would face embarrassment –be it at the intra-government level or the general political level in the country, or reactions – in addition to confronting Arab and global reactions to its position.

An-Nahar has learned that opposition MPs plan to spark a political storm during Wednesday’s question-and-answer parliamentary session. March 14 lawmakers were also considering stepping up their action by putting Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to a confidence vote.

Meanwhile, Cabinet will hold two meetings this week – one at the Grand Serail on Tuesday with 61 items on its agenda and another at Baabda Palace on Wednesday to continue the debate on the electoral draft law and the possibility of reclaiming Lebanese nationality.

Al-Liwaa

Berri urges King Abdullah to intervene for a ‘Syria Taef’ [agreement]

Hariri calls for withdrawing Syrian Ambassador

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sent a message to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, urging him to intervene in the Syrian crisis and bring about a reconciliation between Syria and Arab states.

The divisive stance on the Syria crisis, whether at the political level or at the level of Syrian refugees fleeing into Lebanon or border control, or even in financial and diplomatic areas, seemed to be drawing a milestone for Lebanon, at a time when the Arab and the Middle East region has begun living the earthquake feelings similar to those seen in Eastern Europe countries and the former Yugoslavia in the nineties.

Officially, Lebanon – in the words of President Michel Sleiman – worked hard to defend the position that said “No” to suspending Syria’s Arab League membership and taking a general rule against the isolation of any Arab country, yet at the same time urging President Bashar Assad’s to adopt a “miraculous step” to implement the Arab initiative within the next two days.

But politically, the situation seemed more sensitive toward the dramatic developments on the Syrian front, with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri sharply criticizing the performance of the Mikati government, saying on Twitter that Lebanon's position does not reflect the will of the Lebanese, but instead echoes the position of the Hezbollah-run government headed by Mikati.

Al-Mustaqbal

March 8 shocked, Hezbollah slams Arab League as "Hebrew" [League]

Lebanon’s appalling position at the Arab League meeting Sunday has triggered repercussions and aftershocks and will have disastrous results arising from the isolation of Lebanon, not only from the Arab Spring circle, but from the entire Arab unanimity, akin to isolating it from the international community.

A high-ranking diplomatic source told Al-Mustaqbal that Lebanon would not commit to the Arab League decision on Syria.

The source said Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, however, will take part in the Arab League meeting at the foreign ministers’ level to be held in Rabat on Nov. 16 on the sidelines of the "Turkish-Arab Economic Forum" in Morocco.

Meanwhile, Future Movement secretary-general Ahmad Hariri described as “shameful” Lebanon's position on Syria.

“Lebanon’s position is shameful in a historic day in which the Arab League took a position perhaps it has not taken since its establishment,” Hariri said, asking: “We want to know who is ruling the country today? Are the president and the prime minister [practicing] a cover-up policy on Hezbollah and the Syrian regime?”

March 14 general secretariat coordinator Fares Soueid said that by refusing solidarity with the Arab League's decision, the Lebanese government has put Lebanon in a confrontation with Arab legitimacy, just as it put it in confrontation with the international community by rejecting funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Soueid, in an interview with Al-Mustaqbal, said March 14 were “carefully” mulling a demand to withdraw Lebanon’s ambassador from Syria and to expel the Syrian ambassador from Lebanon.

March 8 speakers appeared shocked Sunday as Hezbollah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said that "the U.S. tools in Lebanon and the Arab world have become part of the aggressive project on Syria as they were part of the aggression on the resistance in 2006."

Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad also warned that the Arab Ministerial Council was “igniting a fire in the region that is difficult to extinguish," while Hezbollah MP Ali Miqdad described the Arab League as the “Hebrew League."

Ad-Diyar

Big chance for a diplomatic solution in Syria: Damascus calls for Arab summit

Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus.

After the meeting, Kirill said the visit comes to “confirm the strong relations between the peoples of Russia and Syria, due to the huge status Syria enjoys historically and religiously."

He expressed the hope "that the Syrian people would overcome the crisis and that Syria would remain a country of love and peace."

Assad, for his part, expressed appreciation for the patriarch as well as for both the Russian people and its leadership "for standing by the Syrian people."

“Syria, which played an important role throughout history in spreading divine laws and the culture of love and brotherhood all over the world, continues to perform this role, by virtue of its history and its place in the Middle East and the world," Assad said.

Meanwhile, Syria called for an urgent summit devoted to “addressing the Syria crisis and looking into its negative repercussions on the Arab situation.”

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Arabic Press Digest / Lebanon
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