Dialogue Linked to March14’s Mood, Jumblatt Completes Turn Out

Zeinab Essa

The Lebanese clock is stuck by hearsays.

However, the only constant is that the 2013 electoral campaign began early.
Meanwhile, the "March 14" opposition seeks only to block any way towards dialogue as their only bet lies behind the Lebanese-Syrian borders.
This comes as the internal Lebanese arena remains governed by leaks related to the arrest of former Minister Michel Samaha away from any legal restrictions.

Samaha's Case: Embedded Facts Ahead of Counter Attack

As it is scheduled that Samaha stands before the military court Monday for accusations on terror plots and igniting sectarian fight, attorneys will attend the first interrogation session.
According to media reports, the individual who lured Samaha has multiple identities and various security affiliations. His name is Milad Kfouri.
"As-Safir" Lebanese paper reported that "Samaha's defense team, which is composed of lawyers Youssef Fenianos and Malek as-Sayyed, will initiate what looks like the counterattack in the Samaha case."

"The lawyers will build their defense strategy on the theory that Samaha was lured into transferring the explosive devices in order to frame him," it clarified.
In this context, "ad-Diyar" daily unveiled that Kfouri is a friend to the head of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch Wissam Hassan."
The paper also pointed out that " the man visited the Zionist entity from Cyprus many times using a foreign passport," as it highlighted that " Kfouri has close ties with the "Israeli" Mossad secret service since the days of the late minister Elie Hobeika."
"Will the crisis over the agent Kfouri lead to the sacking of the head of the ISF Hassan or immobilizing his work because it has led to a huge crisis – a crisis the size of Lebanon and Syria – after Hassan provided Kfouri with political asylum, just as the case with false witness Mohammad Zuheir Siddiq?" the daily wondered.

It stated " the ISF paid 5 million dollars to Kfouri, to take all the information from Michel Samaha on President Bashar al-Assad and General Ali al-Mamlouk and what all he know about Hizbullah."
For its part, "an-Nahar" newspaper learned that "Kfouri enjoys the ISF protection."
“Kfouri asked for protection and we provided him with it after the general prosecutor’s approval,” a security source told the daily.

Mansour: Gov't Not to Move Before Clear Verdict

Commenting on "March 14" campaign based on the arrest of Samaha, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed that " the government won't take any action regarding Syria before a clear judicial verdict Samaha’s case."
In an interview with "as-Safir" daily, Mansour emphasized that "despite all the pressure exerted by well-known political sides, demands to expel the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon and dissolving the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council as well as calls to deploy International forces along the Syrian-Lebanese borders, no decision will be made before the final verdict."
" The government can't take an important fateful and political decision based on media leaks." he stressed.

Berri Slams March 14 Insulting Way on Dialogue

For his part, House Speaker Nabih Berri slammed "March 14" way in responding to President Michel Suleiman's call for national dialogue.
"March 14's way in dealing with both President Suleiman and his call for national dialogue are insulting and unacceptable," Berri told "as-Safir" daily.
In parallel, the Speaker highlighted that " the national dialogue should not remain a prisoner of March 14's mood and political dreams."
"It's not right a few days ahead of the scheduled date set for the dialogue session, Thursday, the President is bound waiting for the opposition, to inform him if they will participate or not."

Jumblatt Completes Political Turn Out

On another level, Lebanese dailies shed light on "National Struggle Front" Leader MP Walid Jumblatt's political turn ahead of his visit to Saudi Arabia.
After his harsh Sunday campaign against March 8 forces , the resistance, and Syria, Jumblatt announced his divorce with the majority.
In an interview with "as-Safir" daily, claimed that "it was about time the Lebanese army played its role away from the "people, army, and resistance" equation."
"Never in history has a country adopted the formula of "army, people and resistance", which we invented in Lebanon; therefore it is no more acceptable to continue with such mystery and manner," Jumblatt added.
He further considered that "weapons, war and peace decisions should be exclusively in the hands of the state."

"We have been discussing this issue for years, it is time we decided on it,” Jumblatt added and noted "the army can be reinforced by gradually integrating the resistance capacities and competencies among its ranks."
The MP claimed that "once Hizbullah and its allies control Lebanon, there will be no place for moderation and diversity because the party is linked to an external alliance at the expense of Lebanon, and Saeed Jalili's visit is the best evidence."

Source: Lebanese dailies, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org