DAILY SCOPE: Hostage Crisis With No Mediator, Too Many Chef Spoil the Broth

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:

AS-SAFIR:

Security Source: Kidnappers Will Not Relinquish.. Priority to Military Initiative
Lebanese Prisons Choking with Terrorists, No Mediators for Swap!

AL-AKHBAR:

Syrian Initiative to Release Army Hostages!

AN-NAHAR:

Negotiations without Mediator in Hostages File!
Europe Complicates Mission of De Mistura

AL-BINAA:

Kidnapped Soldiers Case: Too Many Chefs Spoil the Broth!

Lebanon on Tuesday wakes up to more discussion on the Lebanese army hostages, who apparently become the talk of the town especially in absence of a mediator who can set them to their freedom again. Also, the oil exploration file and the fear of "Israel" stealing the offshore riches of Lebanon continues to be a source of discussion and controversy among Lebanese newspapers, not to mention equipping the Lebanese army and the new American conditions to do so.

As-Safir newspaper said on Tuesday that the Defense Ministry witnessed a new round in concluding the 3-billion dollar grant of Saudi Arabia to the Lebanese army, through signing an annex to the deal of French arms and equipment to the Lebanese army.

Lebanese Army Chief, General Jean Qahwaji, and Admiral Edouard Guillaud representing ODAS company on Monday signed in Yarze the annex to the agreement on delivering to the Lebanese military French weaponry and munitions within the frame of the Saudi donation. The signature took place in presence of French Ambassador to Lebanon, Patrice Paoli.

A security source assured to As-Safir that the security and military measures will be "much more intense, wider qualitative ops will be carried out in the next stage, as the army is at its utmost readiness to confront terrorism." The source stressed that the faster the equipping and arming process takes place, the quicker the Lebanese army gets the upper hand in the fight.

Meanwhile, Security General chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim told As-Safir newspaper that the state is holding "strong cards" to press the release of the abductees, but he needs a unanimous approval to kick off his efforts.
Stressing that ‘too many chefs spoil the broth,' Ibrahim noted that there are various sides intervening in the case, which is threatening the release of the soldiers and policemen.

For his part, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat expressed regret over the latest developments regarding the issue, stating "We don't want to give people false pledges."

The Lebanese army hostages were captured when terrorists from the al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the so-called "Islamic State" groups overran Arsal in August and engaged in fierce battles with the Lebanese army. Four captives have been executed so far, the latest of which was Ali Bazzal, and the terrorists have threatened to kill the remaining hostages unless there is a deal to free extremist prisoners in Lebanon.

On another note, Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri held intensive meetings Monday to reactivate the offshore gas exploration file, which has been sitting in the drawers of the successive Cabinets for the past four years, sources close to the Speaker told The Daily Star.

Berri met Energy and Water Minister Arthur Nazarian, MP Mohammad Qabbani, members of the Petroleum Administration and United Nations officials to review effective ways to start gas drilling and verify if "Israel" has actually started siphoning off gas from one of Lebanon's blocks in the south. Qabbani told The Daily Star that the endorsement of the two decrees, which sets the number of blocks and establishes the revenue mechanism, as well as hammering out a tax policy for gas and oil exploration should be the top priority of the Cabinet and Parliament.

Nazarian has rescheduled the offshore gas licensing round for the fifth time after Cabinet failed to approve the two decrees.
"I think that there is a general agreement among all the political class to reactivate the oil and gas file and pass the two decrees as soon as possible," Qabbani said.

He hoped that the two decrees would be approved by the Cabinet in January 2015 at the most. "I will meet Prime Minister Tammam Salam this week and raise the issue of the two decrees. We can't afford any further procrastination especially since "Israel" and Cyprus are ahead of us in the field of gas exploration," Qabbani said.

He admitted that most international oil companies have lost interest in exploring gas in Lebanon due to the constant delay in endorsing the two decrees, the drop in the price of oil and the installation of a gas pipeline between "Israel", Cyprus and Greece.
Nazarian insisted that the gas file should not be politicized. "We should not mix politics with the economy. The most important thing is to benefit from the gas wealth of Lebanon," the minister said.

On the hostages' mediation issue, an-Nahar newspaper said the cabinet reportedly rejected to task the committee with the mediation despite welcoming any positive effort that would secure the release of the captive soldiers.
Sources described the case as "complicated," highlighting that negotiations reached a standstill, in particular with the multiple conditions that the so-called "Islamic State" group and al-Nusra Front have set without any coordination among them.

Al-Akhbar Lebanese daily, for its part, questioned whether the arrival of UN peace envoy Steffan De Mistura to Syria is a good indicator to an end to the crisis of the abducted Lebanese soldiers in Arsal.

Source: al-Ahed news