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Lebanon's Arabic press digest – Sept. 24, 2014

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As Syria Grabs Headlines, Congress Tends To Local Business

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The chamber of the House of Representatives empties following a joint meeting of Congress, at the Capitol on Thursday, Sept. 18, with visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

itoggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The chamber of the House of Representatives empties following a joint meeting of Congress, at the Capitol on Thursday, Sept. 18, with visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The U.S. action against ISIS in Syria is dominating headlines around the globe.

President Obama spoke about the mission Tuesday, saying it has bipartisan support from Congress and called it necessary for the security of the country, and the world.

Members of Congress, meanwhile, are watching from afar — after approving the president's plan to equip and train Syrian opposition fighters, lawmakers left Washington and returned to their districts ahead of the Nov. 4 midterm election.

For many members, the daily business of tending to their constituents (or their re-election campaigns) is no less pressing than the events unfolding on the world stage.

Here's a sample of what members of Congress are up to — and tweeting about:

Salam sees defensive role for Lebanon

BEIRUT: Lebanon will have a defensive role in the fight against ISIS, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Tuesday after arriving in New York, adding that his country was in need of urgent aid to cope with the huge influx of Syrian refugees.

Salam, who is taking part in the 69th session of the U.N. General Assembly, held a series of meetings with head of states and top international officials. “ Lebanon is taking part in the war against ISIS from a defensive position because it lacks the military capabilities to be on the offensive,” he told Al-Arabiya TV.

A U.S.-led coalition began striking ISIS positions in Syria Tuesday, weeks after it started targeting the group’s headquarters in Iraq.

“The danger of terrorism is not limited to Lebanon but in the entire region and we are in need of support,” Salam added.

Regarding the Syrian refugee crisis, Salam said Lebanon needed additional aid to cope with the situation.

“We are determined to raise our voice regarding the Syrian refugees to contact all sides to get support,” Salam said, stressing that no country in the world could endure the magnitude of the refugee crisis Lebanon was falling under.

“The assistance should not only be directed to Syrian refugees but also to the hosting people that are carrying the biggest burden,” he said. “We hope to receive more support by our presence at the U.N. now, and we rely on donor states to a great extent.”

Salam is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly Friday.

The premier met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, King Abdullah of Jordan and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

Addressing Salam, Sisi said: “Your security stems from our security and our security stems from your security.” He also offered training to Lebanese Army units to be provided by the Egyptian Army.

Salam also met U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, head of the Arab League Nabil Elaraby and U.K. Foreign Minister Philip Hammond.

Salam also attended a reception hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in honor of the heads of delegations participating in the U.N. General Assembly sessions and met World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who accompanied Salam to New York, met his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal. The two discussed issues related to counterterrorsim and arming Lebanon’s Army.

Bassil also took part in a seminar on the need to combat international terrorism during which he stressed that the Lebanese military needed support to confront terrorism.

Nasrallah: Lebanon must not join U.S. anti-terror coalition

BEIRUT: Lebanon should not be part of the U.S.-led international coalition fighting terrorism because “America is the mother of terrorism,” the leader of Hezbollah said in a televised speech Tuesday night.

Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah also said his group opposed U.S. military intervention in Syria, including airstrikes on ISIS targets.

Declaring that Lebanon was capable to confront terrorism alone, he said the government should negotiate with Islamist militants holding at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage from a position of strength, warning that negotiating from a weak position would lead to a catastrophe.

“We are against Lebanon’s participation in the U.S.-led coalition. The U.S. isn’t qualified morally to lead an anti-terrorism coalition,” Nasrallah said in the speech aired on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station. “In our view, America is the mother of terrorism and the cause of terrorism in this world. It is the absolute supporter of the Zionist state of terrorism.”

He added that America had created or helped create terrorist groups which the global coalition was now seeking to fight in Iraq and Syria.

“We reject that Lebanon be part of the international coalition. It is not in Lebanon’s interest to be part of this coalition. There are risks for Lebanon if it joins this coalition,” Nasrallah said.

“Everyone knows that Hezbollah is against ISIS and takfiri groups and is fighting them. The groups that kill and slaughter pose a threat to all the peoples of this region,” he said. “However, that doesn’t mean we support U.S. military intervention in the region. Hezbollah is against any U.S.-led international coalition that uses terrorism as an excuse for a military intervention in Syria and Iraq.”

“We are against American military intervention and an international coalition in Syria, whether that [action] is against the Syrian regime or Daesh,” Nasrallah said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

“Under the false pretext of fighting terrorism the U.S. seeks to take control of the region,” he said.

Nasrallah’s speech came hours after the United States and its Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time, killing scores of ISIS fighters and members of a separate Al-Qaeda-linked group, opening a new front against militants by joining Syria’s three-year-old civil war.

The formation of the global coalition to fight ISIS militants who have seized large swaths in Iraq and Syria was endorsed during a meeting of the coalition’s foreign ministers in the Saudi city of Jeddah earlier this month. The U.S won backing for the coalition from 10 Arab countries, including Lebanon.

Nasrallah argued that some countries in the coalition were still supporting, funding and arming terrorist groups, including ISIS.

He urged the coalition’s member states to stop the financing and arming of “terrorist groups that are targeting Lebanon” and to accelerate the delivery of weapons to the Lebanese Army to help in the battle against terrorism.

Despite deep political differences and polarization between the March 8 and March 14 parties, Nasrallah said Lebanon was strong and capable of confronting terrorist groups. “The Lebanese people, through their Army, are able to defend and protect their country from terrorist threats,” he said.

Responding to a statement by Sheikh Sirajuddine Zureiqat, a spokesman of Al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, who threatened to come to Beirut in a few days after ISIS captured large swaths in Iraq and Syria, Nasrallah said: “You cannot come to Beirut or any other place because the Lebanese are capable of confronting any terrorist threat. No one can threaten to invade [Beirut]. We will shoulder our responsibility.”

Referring to the thorny issue of Lebanese soldiers and policemen captured by ISIS and Nusra Front militants during last month’s fierce clashes with the Lebanese Army in the northeastern town of Arsal, Nasrallah rejected accusations that Hezbollah opposed negotiations with the militants to secure the release of the hostages. He urged the government to negotiate with the militants through intermediaries from a position of strength.

He also called on rival factions to keep the hostage ordeal away from their political bickering and rivalry. Nasrallah said the soldiers’ kidnappers were playing with the country’s fate in view of the confusion within the government over how to approach the hostage crisis.

“Lebanon has been experiencing real humiliation for weeks because of the political performance of several political parties. The continued political one-upmanship will not lead to a solution to this problem,” he said. “For the sake of the Army, the country and the people, we hope that this [hostage] issue be kept away from political one-upmanship and settlement of scores.”

Nasrallah stressed that negotiating from a position of strength would help secure the release of the soldiers and policemen, warning that negotiating from a weak position would lead to a catastrophe.

“We call for negotiation from a position of strength. The Lebanese government is aware of the positions of strength it has,” he said.

Nusra Front and ISIS militants are still holding at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen. The government has been involved in indirect negotiations with the militant groups through Qatari-sponsored mediation, but has recently announced the suspension of these efforts in response to last week’s execution of Mohammad Maarouf Hammieh by Nusra Front militants and threats to execute more servicemen.

Nasrallah confirmed that Hezbollah was open to negotiations with militants over the release of the captives, underlining that the party “has never rejected the principle of negotiations.”

Nasrallah condemned the wave of sectarian kidnappings that swept the Bekaa region following the execution of three captive soldiers by ISIS and Nusra Front militants. He warned that the kidnappings served the goals of the militants who were seeking to incite sectarian strife.

“Kidnappings serve the goals of the terrorists who aim to spark sectarian strife in in Lebanon. They want to move the battle to Lebanon,” he said.

VAT hike part of Preliminary formula to resolve public sector salaries

BEIRUT: Signs of a breakthrough emerged Tuesday regarding the problematic issue of the public sector finances after Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil held five-hour marathon talks on the wage hike with Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan, a parliamentary source said.

Speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, the source said that based on a formula agreed upon by the two officials, the wage hike would be paid in installments over two years depending on the capabilities of the Finance Ministry.

The raise would be financed by a 1 percentage point increase in VAT and there would be no retroactive payments.

The source said Adwan was also negotiating on behalf of the Future Movement, adding that he was showing flexibility.

The source said Wednesday would be decisive, as Khalil would relay to Adwan the final stance of the March 8 coalition on the preliminary deal.

In the event the group’s position is positive, Parliament’s secretariat will meet next week to set an agenda for a legislative session expected to convene during the same week.

The visitors of Speaker Nabih Berri quoted him as saying he expected Union Coordination Committee to accept the solution reached during the Khalil and Adwan deliberations. “This is because the burden of the wage hike falls on all the Lebanese and not only on those whom the Union Coordination Committee represents,” Berri was quoted as saying.

The UCC has spearheaded demands for the salary raise over the past three years.

Berri said all efforts were now concentrated on endorsing the salary raise because this was the key to resuming legislative sessions.

The speaker also noted that there were no disagreements between political parties over other draft laws.