A selection of stories from Lebanese newspapers that may be of interest for Daily Star readers.
As-Safir
FM: Europe seeking to turn Lebanon into a “refugees’ state”
Lebanon, which is hosting over 1.3 million Syrian refugees, is being pressured by European countries to sign the 1951 Geneva convention on the status of refugees, a trap aimed at settling the refugees permanently, daily As-Safir said.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil raised the issue ahead of a meeting that he and Prime Minister Tammam Salam would attend in Berlin next week to discuss the plight of Syrian refugees.
Bassil warned that European countries were trying to “dictate” on Lebanon to sign the convention in an attempt to make it a “country for refugees” and force it to keep the refugees for many years and provide them with certain privileges, which is beyond its capacity and would have a detrimental effect on its economy and demography, the newspaper said.
Lebanon, which is already under the weight of some 350,000 Palestinian refugees, is not a signatory to the convention which defines refugee status, their rights and the legal obligations of the hosting state.
Al-Akhbar
Jumblatt: “I fear for the fate of Greater Lebanon”
Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblatt said in an interview with Al-Akhbar newspaper that the fate of Lebanon as we know it today is at stake, after the country has become directly involved in the raging Syrian conflict.
“One party blaming the other that terrorism would not have reached Lebanon if it wasn’t for [Hezbollah's] involvement in Syria is not useful. What all parties need to do is to safeguard Greater Lebanon,” Jumblatt said.
The PSP leader said he conditioned his bloc’s approval to extend the Parliament’s mandate on an agreement to elect a president as soon as possible, after which general elections would be held.
He stressed, however, that he did not preview an imminent presidential poll. “No regional changes favorable to Lebanon would take place in the current phase and that is why we are heading towards the crisis to extend Parliament's term and prolonging the (presidential) vacuum,” he said.
An Nahar
Parliament mandate’s extension on hot burner
The Parliament’s mandate would be extended for two years and seven months under the title of “imperative prolongation” at a plenary session to be held by Nov. 10 at the latest, An Nahar newspaper said, citing parliamentary sources.
The draft bill would include a justification for the prolongation and a clause stating clearly that once a president is elected and agreement reached over a new electoral law, the general poll would be held immediately, the sources said.
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