The following are a selection of stories from Lebanese newspapers that may be of interest to Daily Star readers. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
AL-Liwaa
Kidnappers demand release of 44 inmates
Kahwagi did not meet Nasrallah, source
Sources following up on the Lebanese hostage crisis told Al-Liwaa that two developments had emerged that made the families of the captive soldiers reconsider their actions and allow the government to negotiate away from pressure.
Reports circulated widely on social networks and television channels Thursday that the Cabinet had received a list of demands from the kidnappers, which includes the names of 44 inmates held at Roumieh and Rihaneh prisons.
Most prominent among the list are detainees Naim Abbas, Omar Atrash, Joumana Hmeid and Omar Bakri, in addition to the kidnappers of the seven Estonian cyclists who were abducted shortly after crossing into Lebanon from Syria in 2011. They were released after 113 days in captivity.
Meanwhile, a military source told Al-Liwaa that a report about a meeting between Lebanese Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah upon his return from the U.S. was not true.
Al-Joumhouria
No truth to kidnappers’ demands: Ibrahim
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim denied reports that Prime Minister Tammam Salam had received written demands from Islamist militants holding Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage.
“There is no truth to reports leaked about names and written demands that have reached Salam,” Ibrahim told Al-Joumhouria. “All the names being circulated are no more than media leaks from here and there.”
He said the negotiating party did not yet receive any “formal or serious” demand from the kidnappers, adding that Lebanon was counting on the Qatari mediator.
As-Safir
Ahmad Mikati has had contact with lawmaker
Charred body belongs to Army defector?
A well-informed security source told As-Safir that preliminary investigation with Ahmad Mikati, who was detained during an Army raid in north Lebanon Thursday, showed he had been in constant contact with a lawmaker from north Lebanon who is known for his extremism.
Mikati, according to the investigation, had coordinated with the MP via the WhatsApp messenger service. Mikati would also send the MP video grabs showing defected Lebanese Army soldiers.
Meanwhile, security information made available to As-Safir said Army defector Abdel-Kader Akoumi was among the Asoun terror cell and was reportedly killed during the exchange of machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade between the Army and gunmen.
The charred body found in the Asoun apartment likely belongs to Akoumi.
As-Safir has learned that the Army has requested a DNA test from Akoumi’s mother to match it to the charred body.
An-Nahar
Army seeking military recruitment
An-Nahar has learned that the Lebanese Army is seeking to recruit about 1,000 male adults to join the military voluntarily as of next week and another 1,000 at the beginning of 2015.
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