DAILY SCOPE: Substantial Radioactive Material to Find Storage in Lebanon

ASSAFIR

Thwarting Attempt to Establish Permanent Storage Center in Adloun 

Radioactive materials in all Lebanon

FUTURE

Security plan for camps...from "Miyeh Miyeh" camp till "Shatila"

THE DAILYSTAR

Security Plan to Launch in Beirut 

On the domestic level, Head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblat accused Lebanon's Maronite Christians of being suicidal and revealed that he would resign from parliament in May.

"I know that some people will get upset but I should tell the truth; Maronites are experts in committing suicide," Jumblat told as-Safir newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

"They should deal with the presidential elections with humility and pragmatism so that they preserve their role," he added.

The MP seemed not to be optimistic that a president would be elected soon as the vacuum at Baabda Palace approaches the one year mark.
Calling for "coexisting with the vacuum and improving the conditions of the crisis' management by consolidating the work of the government," Jumblat revealed that he would hand over his parliamentary seat in the Shouf district in May to his son Taymour.

He said Speaker Nabih Berri promised him to hold by-elections after the announcement of his resignation from parliament.
On another note, Speaker Nabih Berri intends to call for a parliamentary session this month, a move that requires consultations with the rival blocs over the vacuum at Baabda Palace.

Al-Liwaa daily on Tuesday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that he is seeking to call for a session by the end of March, which shall be preceded by a meeting for the parliament's bureau to discuss the session's agenda, which will likely include the food safety draft-law and a proposal on oil exploration.

Parliament convenes twice a year in two ordinary sessions -- the first starts mid-march until the end of May and the second from the middle of October through the end of December.

Article 33 of the Constitution confirms that extraordinary sessions can be held at the request of "an absolute majority" of the parliament, still An-Nahar said that Berri should launch consultations with the Christian blocs in parliament, which have expressed reservations over holding sessions in the absence of a president.

On another note, Lebanese authorities are tackling a new file in an attempt to find a location to safely store radioactive material, meeting the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel had suggested to store the material in one of Adloun's military barracks in the south which did not meet the state's approval.
"The last ten days have witnessed discussions among various official institutions in a bid to find ways to store some substantial radioactive material in Lebanon," sources close to PM Tammam Salam told As-Safir daily on Tuesday.

Sources added that "the move came on the backdrop of successive notices from the IAEA to find a safe place to store the material."
They noted that some reports have warned of attempts to smuggle this kind of radioactive material which originates from Syria, Iraq and other countries in the region.

"There are also significant quantities of iron from Chernobyl (Ukraine)," the sources added underscoring that "gangs exploit illegal crossings and other official non-land crossings in collaboration with the employees to smuggle the material."

The sources went on to say "the file was brought up ten days ago when the premiership received a decision issued by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel asking the Lebanese Army to establish a permanent location to store the radioactive material in one of Adloun's barracks."
"However, Speaker Nabih Berri, Salam and the Army Command halted the decision."

The Interior Ministry has raised the possibility of re-locating some Syrian refuges from Arsal to another location in the Bekaa at a recent Hezbollah-Future movement dialogue session, a source familiar with the issue has told The Daily Star. The discussions, however, are still in the early stages, and there has been no political consensus on the issue nor any logistical plan as to how to move the refugees or where to resettle them.

The plan, the source said, would initially target more than 750 refugee families living on the outskirts of Arsal near the Syrian border. Following clashes between the Lebanese Army and Islamist militants last August, security services effectively closed the checkpoint linking the town to the surrounding hills where "ISIL" and Nusra elements settled.

Syria-based terrorist groups are preparing to resume their attacks against Lebanese territories on the northeastern border with Syria with the advent of spring in the next few weeks, according to reports received by military and security institutions in Lebanon based on Western intelligence information.

The anticipated terrorist attacks prompted the Lebanese Army to launch a series of pre-emptive operations against jihadis holed up in rugged areas near the border with Lebanon. The Army's pre-emptive strikes against "ISIL" and the Nusra Front have been praised by several foreign security agencies.

The battle for the rugged outskirts stretching from Syria's Qalamoun region to the Lebanese northeastern town of Arsal, including mountains overlooking the main international highway linking Lebanon to Syria, is inevitable, a high-ranking military source told The Daily Star.

Source: al-ahed news