DAILY SCOPE: Daesh Defeated in Iraq’s Tikrit

AN-NAHAR

Iraqi Forces Enter Tikrit, Daesh Retaliates in Ramadi

AL-AKHBAR

Tikrit Back to Join Baghdad

THE DAILYSTAR

Cabinet Faces Unity Test over Key Appointments 

The Petroleum Authority has been active in assessing the gas and oil reserves in ten offshore blocks, despite the failure of the government to approve two crucial decrees, as-Safir daily reported on Thursday.

The daily said that the authority as well as a French institution completed three months ago the map of reserves in Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone. According to their study, Lebanon has gas reserves worth 13.5 billion barrels and 1.2 billion barrels of oil reserves, said the report.

Despite the huge revenues that the exploration of oil and gas can bring, the government has not adopted the two important decrees on the number of blocks that will be auctioned and the mechanism for revenue sharing.
According to the paper, the approval of the decrees is necessary to launch the licensing round, which in August last year was postponed for the fifth time over a dispute among the different factions.

According to as-Safir, "Israel's" ambassador to Paris pressured the French institution to end its cooperation with the Lebanese authorities, but the company stressed that it has signed contracts with Beirut and would stay committed to them.
Speaker Nabih Berri on several occasions accused "Israel" of stealing Lebanon's offshore oil and gas in an area close to the southern border with Occupied Palestine. As-Safir also said that the Lebanese government is also cooperating with the Norwegian authorities to improve the institutions involved in the petroleum sector.

 Lebanon signed a three-year cooperation contract with Oslo to develop the technical and human capabilities of the Lebanese institutions linked to the sector, it said.
On another note, the Lebanese cabinet faces a new test of unity Thursday over the appointment of new members of the Banking Control Commission as a number of ministers have voiced reservations over some proposed candidates, said the Daily Star on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Parliament failed to elect a new president over a lack of quorum, prompting Speaker Nabih Berri to postpone the session to April 2. Wednesday's session was the 20th aborted attempt since April to choose a successor to former President Michel Suleiman, whose six-year tenure ended on May 25.

In Iraq, as-Safir said the army and the popular forces and tribal fighters have gained foothold in Tikrit after liberating central parts of the city, and achieved a victory in face of the Daesh terrorist group, in clear sign that the terrorist group is waning and is no longer solid and strong in face of any confrontation. 

A statement by Iraq's Defense Ministry on Wednesday said major government buildings close to the city's center have been retaken from ISIL terrorists. Security officials said most of the ISIL militants in the city have begun retreating.
The advances on Wednesday came after nearly a week of heavy fighting for the liberation of the city, around 160 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad. Tikrit was one of the two major strongholds of ISIL in Iraq, the other being Mosul.
Iraqi forces managed to retake Tikrit's military hospital located in al-Qadisiya neighborhood earlier in the day.

A mop-up operation was carried out, including a combined force of more than 30,000 fighters both from the Iraqi armed forces and volunteers, known as Popular Mobilization forces. It is the largest operation launched by the government to date and many see it as a prelude to recapturing the northern city of Mosul.
An-Nahar for its part quoted AFP noting a major general had said on condition of anonymity that government forces were battling "to cleanse the neighbourhood of Qadisiyah" in Tikrit.

"But we are engaging in a very delicate battle because we are not facing fighters on the ground, we are facing booby-trapped terrain and sniper fire. Our movement is slow," he said.

Moreover, Ali al-Allak, a leader in the ‘Badr Organization' [one of the major pillars of the popular forces] told al-Akhbar newspaper that "the security forces and tribal and popular fighters were able to cleanse some regions and areas in Tikrit."
He noted that the heavy gunfire by the tribal fighters weakened and puzzled Daesh terrorist fighters, adding that the Daesh have executed many of the Baath party fighters who were cooperating with them.

Source: al-Ahed news