DAILY SCOPE: Dialogue in 48 Hours

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:

ASSAFIR:

"Hizbullah", "Future" Dialogue: Consensual President, Tension Reduction
"Tender of Mediators" for Kidnapped... Jumblatt Promises "Serious Offer"
Larijani Meets Assad: We Will Not Wane on Supporting Syria

AN-NAHAR:

Abducted Soldiers' File: Too Many Chefs Annoying
Salam: ‘Future'-‘Hizbullah' Dialogue Kick Off Tomorrow
Relatives of Air Algerian Crash Victims: Our Tragedy Tax Paid by all Lebanese Expatriates

AL-AKHBAR:

Dialogue during 24 hours

THE DAILYSTAR:

French Arms Set to Arrive Soon: Salam
Earful Reception for Air Algerie Crash Victims

Lebanese newspapers focused on a few topics on Monday, shedding light on the ‘Future'-‘Hizbullah' dialogue that will be launched soon, as well as the Visit of the Islamic Republic's Head of the Shoura Council, Ali Larijani to Beirut, following a meeting he had held with Bashar al-Assad earlier on Sunday.

Larijani said that the US-led international coalition "ISIL" is nothing more than a false pretense, and assured that Syria is paying the price for resisting the Zionist enemy. As part of his regional tour, Larijani arrived to Beirut where he will be holding talks with top officials right before the launch of dialogue, of which Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri did not reveal the exact time yet due to the latter's visit.

All papers were in consensus that dialogue will take place in 48 hours.

Despite the reports that the dialogue's first session will take place on Tuesday, Berri reiterated that the talks will be held between Christmas and New Year without determining an exact date.

Al-Akhbar newspaper for its part quoted ministerial sources in the Future movement and March 8 camp saying that it is more likely that the Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri will bring the two sides together in the first meeting during the coming 48 hours, but Berri has not declared a precise date yet due to the visit of Iran's House Speaker. The sources revealed that Nader Hariri, adviser of the Future movement chief Saad Hariri, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and MP Samir al-Jisr are expected to represent the party in the talks.

Meanwhile, Hussein Khalil, the aide of Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Industry Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan and MP Hassan Fadlallah will likely be Hizbullah's representatives.

Al-Liwaa newspaper for its part noted that the representatives of the two parties will meet in Ain el-Tineh under Berri, who will later withdraw from the talks to pave way for the two sides to discuss controversial issues.

Berri had told his visitors on Sunday that he will only preside the first session, but he did not rule out the presence of his aide Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil in all the sessions.

"The most important aspect of it [the dialogue]is direct contact between the two sides without the interference of a mediator," he said, adding "The dialogue will be serious and we will work on its productivity."

He stressed that the talks will help ease tension between Sunnis and Shiites in the country, further adding that the dialogue's agenda will be open except for certain issues that the two sides have agreed to keep aside, such as the Syrian crisis and the resistance arms.

As for the equipping of the Lebanese army, Prime Minister Tammam Salam has called on France to speed up the delivery of military helicopters to the Lebanese army as part of the $1 billion Saudi grant to Lebanon, as he warned that Syrian refugees in the country might stage a "revolt" over the international community's insufficient support.

"We're still conducting talks to receive the helicopters in the beginning of the [army's equipment] program instead of its final stages," Salam told the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

"Daesh ["ISIL"] is present in the Arsal region on the Lebanese-Syrian border, and if it manages to invade Lebanon, it will impose its extremism in all places," Salam warned, describing the US-led airstrikes against the extremist groups as ‘symbolic and insufficient".

France and Saudi Arabia signed an arms agreement at the beginning of November for Paris to provide the Lebanese military with the $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Riyadh.

Papers also discussed the latest developments on the abducted soldiers' file. The deputy municipal chief of the border town of Arsal, seems to be the last candidate of mediators on the file, yet, As-Safir newspaper wrote that Fleiti's role in the case is not new.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt stressed on Monday that Fleiti had a serious proposal to resolve the hostage crisis despite reservations expressed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam over his role. Jumblat told local As-Safir that Health Minister Wael Abou Faour had informed him that Fleiti has a "serious offer that would pave way for a solution to the cause of the captives after he visited the hostage-abductors."

Fleiti announced on Sunday that Abou Faour had tasked him with mediating in the case of the servicemen who were taken hostage by jihadist groups from Arsal in August. He told al-Liwaa daily in remarks published on Monday that he has no ties with the militants nor he is a party member. But Fleiti's involvement in the negotiations aimed at releasing the hostages frustrated Salam, An Nahar newspaper said. The caretaker PM has insisted that General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is the only person tasked by the Lebanese state to negotiate the release of the abducted soldiers.

Source: Lebanese dailies, Translated and Edited by al-Ahed news