MEDIASCOPE: Lebanese Army’s Iron Fist Continues to Strike

Local Editor

AS-SAFIR:

Italian Foreign Minister, Emma Bonino revealed to As-Safir newspaper the lines that move the threads of game in the Syrian conflict. She assures that the only solution on the mind of the opposition is military.

In an interview with AS-Safir, Bonino says the West has made mistakes in the Syrian file, and assures that the role of some Arab countries and Turkey is suspicious. She criticizes a major flaw in the international coalition against the ISIS-Daesh.

"This issue is ongoing, there are countries that still believe military act is the solution, what we see is a daily war in the region not between the Sunnis and Shias only but also the Sunnis themselves. It is not matter of religious war, but rather cultural and the exploitation of religion to locate geo-strategically.
"This war has nothing to do with religion, our region had witnessed a war for 30 years (1618-1648 for instance; which was a series of wars between the Catholic and Protestant) but that was only under the pretext of religion. This war was in fact related to strategic and geo-political reasons."

Bonino also assured that "Qatar followed by Turkey support the Muslim brotherhood, Saudi Arabia and the UAE support the Wahabi Salafist movements, and of course in Syria there is support to the extremist Sunnis, which complicates the situation even further.

AD-DIYAR:

Lebanese Army chief General Jean Qahwaji on Wednesday reassured "there will be no bargaining at the expense of the blood of the martyrs" who fell in the northern regions of Tripoli and Minieh, stressing that the fugitive gunmen will be arrested "no matter how long it takes."

"The martyrs and the injured soldiers' blood will not go in vain," said Qahwaji during a visit to the Aley district, where he offered condolences to the families of slain officers Jihad al-Habr and Firas al-Hakim, who were killed in the latest clashes in the North.

Qahwaji stressed "There will be no bargaining or leniency with those who killed our troops and no secret deals will occur at the expense of our martyrs' blood."
He underlined that "anyone who attacked the army is a terrorist and they will be chased, arrested and handed over to the judiciary, no matter where they were and no matter how long it takes."

Eleven troops and five civilians were killed and several others wounded in the gun battles that started in Tripoli's old souks and spread to the city's Bab al-Tabbaneh district and the nearby northern regions of Minieh and Akkar.

AL-AKHBAR:

Despite a unanimity on opposition to extending the parliament's term, Lebanese House Speaker nabih Berri declared during Wednesday's parliamentary meeting that a session will be held next week to discuss the prolongation.

March 8 Parliamentary sources told al-Akhbar newspaper that "Berri would not have called for a session to be held next week unless there were positive signs he had received from MPs Michel Aoun and George Odwan..."

Sources noted that the ‘Christian powers are competing over who expresses more rejection to the prolongation only through media rhetoric. They all know that all sides, the domestic, regional and international do not want any change in the balance of powers, which would lead to collapse of the current equation, keeping no horizon for any new solutions."
 
On another note, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rahi refused on Wednesday ongoing talks about holding a Constituent Assembly. "A Constituent Assembly calls into question the national pact and will undermine 94 years of constitutional life in Lebanon," he said while in Australia's Adelaide, where he toured for several days.

Source: Lebanese Dailies, Translated by website team