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

An-Nahar: Lebanon assumes Security Council presidency

An-Nahar’s correspondent in New York Ali Barada said Lebanon assumed Thursday the seat of the Security Council presidency for September. Lebanon’s mission to the U.N., headed by Ambassador Nawaf Salam, began preparations to welcome President Michel Sleiman, who will deliver Lebanon’s address at the U.N. General Assembly’s 66th annual session on Sept. 21. Sleiman will also head a high-level meeting of the Security Council on "preventive diplomacy” on Sept. 22.

Salam told An-Nahar on the eve of assuming Lebanon’s presidency of the Security Council: “Just like we did during our presidency of the council last year, when Lebanon included the issue of dialogue between cultures and conflict resolution on the agenda of the Security Council, this year we will include the issue of preventive diplomacy on the council [agenda]."

He said this concept includes the means and diplomatic actions in the early stages in order to prevent disputes and prevent it from escalating or spreading.

Regarding the issue of Palestinians achieving U.N. membership, Salam said: “This issue can get to a large amount of progress,” adding that Lebanon would be at the forefront of supporting this Palestinian proposal.

In Paris, meanwhile, An-Nahar correspondent Samir Tueni said Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose participation at a Paris conference on Libya was his fist international appearance since he assumed office three months ago, met on the sidelines of the conference with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe. The two men discussed developments in Lebanon and the region.

According to diplomatic sources in Paris, Mikati’s participation in this conference represents a form of relative freedom from the international isolation on the government and its prime minister, considering that a diplomatic siege on the government increased after the issuance of the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon which calls for the arrest of four suspects, while some parties which are the backbone of the government refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the STL and its work.

The sources said that Western countries believe it is better to receive Mikati rather than dispatching delegates to Lebanon to avoid embarrassment created by the possibility of meeting with individuals who oppose the STL.

Al-Akhbar: Charbel finalizes Internal Security Forces appointments

The political stalemate continued in Lebanon except for leaks that the Interior Ministry has made progress in appointments after Interior Minister Marwan Charbel signed the appointments of the head of Internal Security Forces (ISF) units, which will be referred to Cabinet Friday.

If things move along smoothly, the appointments will receive the signatures of the president, the prime minister and the finance minister to become effective.

Sources following up on the ISF appointments said Charbel, in the decree, selected the same slate of officers to remain in the same key posts. This includes ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi and head of the Judicial Police Col. Naji Masri.

Al-Mustaqbal: March 14 to Berri: Your call for dialogue is a trap

There has been a storm of responses to Speaker Nabih Berri’s speech [commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr].

Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said he believed Berri's speech came as no surprise “because he renewed his full commitment to Hezbollah’s positions on the various issues, particularly on weapons.”

Fatfat pointed out that Berri’s speech lacked any mention of the release of the indictment in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his companions, in addition to ignoring the internal government crisis on the electricity issue.

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra, for his part, responded to Berri’s remarks that the Cedar Revolution had coordinated its stances with former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, saying: “Maintaining contact with President Hosni Mubarak is no crime. We are proud of our relationship with him and of his stance toward the Lebanese cause.”

“We will not allow ourselves to comment on the Egyptian people’s choice to change,” Zahra added.

He said Berri was in a “difficult situation,” adding that “we don’t know how he will reconcile between his position regarding the state and that regarding what is ongoing, especially since the weapons’ masters [Hezbollah] are required to tell us how they plan to merge in the state?"