THU 28 - 3 - 2024
 
Date: Jul 6, 2011
Source: The Daily Star
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 6, 2011

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: Confidence [vote] debate acceptable, Nasrallah says tribunal retaliation for resistance victories

Tribunal to demand list of places raided and [inquire about] why police patrols did not enter Dahiyeh


Saudi Arabia has intervened on the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) when Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal announced his support for the tribunal in an indirect response to remarks made by Iran’s Ali Larijani.
We are now faced with two positions: an Iranian stance that has dubbed the STL as “invalid” against a Saudi stance that supports the STL and consider it a means to justice.
As for the STL indictments and arrest warrants issued against four Hezbollah members, the tribunal will send a memo to the Lebanese judiciary asking them to reveal the places that have already been raided in the pursuit of the wanted men ahead of the 30-day deadline.
Under the STL’s rules, Lebanese authorities have to report to the court on the measures they have taken to arrest the accused within 30 days of the issuing of the indictment.
Much of the STL work is now focused on whether Lebanese police patrols will raid places in the [Hezbollah-controlled] southern suburbs of Beirut and why they have not entered [the area] yet.
Western and European ambassadors seem to be following up on a pledge made by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel that Internal Security Forces will raid places to arrest the wanted men. They were secretly inquiring about the reason that ISF patrols have not entered the southern suburbs as if they were coordinating with the tribunal, or that they had been asked to do so by their governments.
In return, several March 14 MPs who returned from a visit to Paris said the issue was a matter of time, saying the indictments were based on strong evidence. Following investigative reporting, Ad-Diyar has learned that the probe was based on [recordings of] mobile telephone calls.
Meanwhile, according to judicial information, international investigators are likely to visit Lebanon on July 15 to hand over a list of 12 Hezbollah members accused in the Hariri assassination.


Al-Mustaqbal: March 14 MPs launch their campaign against the coup government


A session to discuss the policy statement of Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government did not come out as expected since opposition [March 14] MPs did not raise the level of their rhetoric beyond the statement made after their Sunday meeting at Beirut’s Bristol hotel. The debate was particularly focused on two points: the coup government and the way it is dealing with the STL and illegal weapons, while majority [March 8] MPs went as far as to demand the withdrawal of Lebanese judges from the STL and ending funding for the tribunal.
It was significant how discipline prevailed during the session with a calm tone despite the heightened positions made by both opposition and pro-government MPs alike.


As-Safir: Parliament debates tribunal six years late… Faisal calls for wisdom


A session Tuesday to discuss the policy statement turned into a debate over the STL and how to deal with its decisions, a discussion that was delayed nearly six years after a protocol agreement was signed between the government of Lebanon (under Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the time) and the tribunal.
Contrary to expectations, which suggested a verbal battle or even a fistfight, the parliamentary session passed off peacefully.
A decision made by Jamaa Islamiya, via its MP Imad Hout, was stunning as he announced his party would refrain from voting, a stance that carries signs at the Sunni arena level. It indicates that the “Jamaa” has taken up a position similar to the "fierce opposition" adopted by the Future Movement.
Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal called on all parties in Lebanon to "deal with the international court's decision calmly and rationally away from tension and to avoid any escalation or confrontation with the international community."
He said now that the indictments had been issued, Saudi hopes the Lebanese parties would seek to achieve justice and resort to wisdom by not allowing this incident to destabilize Lebanon, particularly since everyone had voted in favor of the STL, including political groups that oppose the of tribunal’s decision.


An-Nahar: March 14 prosecutes the government: [Hariri’s] assassination was not 'in principle'


A high-ranking source in the opposition told An-Nahar at the end of the first day of parliamentary meetings to discuss the government’s police statement ahead of a vote of confidence: "We did not hear from Mr. Mikati an explicit commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1757 on the STL, and so our response will be a no-confidence vote and end of cooperation with the government pending further steps to be adopted in the near future."

 



 
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