DAILY SCOPE : Canadians Joining ’ISIL’ Arrested, Half a Million Yemenis Displaced

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES

AS-SAFIR
 
Democracy in Yemen's Decisive Storm: Dividing It!
Al-Nusra Spreading in North Lebanon

AL-BINAA
 
Velayati: Assad Will Remain Syria President, We Will Support Him Whatever Nuclear Talks Results Are

AD-DIYAR

Security Cooperation Tumbles Baghdadi and Hablas, New Technology in Hands of Security Forces to Confront Terrorism

Lebanese newspapers on Wednesday focused on different topics, highlighting the abducted servicemen file, the ongoing presidential impasse, the Qalamoun battles in which the Syrian army and the Resistance forces are engaged in fighting the terrorist groups and other regional and domestic issues. Yemen's crisis remains in the spotlight, with almost half a million displaced since the beginning of the Saudi attack on Yemen.

Progress or Delay in Abducted Soldiers Swap Deal? --- AL-AKHBAR

Sources related to the Ministerial Crisis cell told al-Akhbar newspaper that the "delay in the abducted soldiers' file is stuck at one point, where the Nusra front is demanding the release of arrested extremists in Lebanese jails. The sources said at the time the Nusra front suggests that the swap deal be in different stages, Lebanon's Prime Minister insists the swap deal should take place in one stage.
 
Significant progress has been made in negotiations to free Lebanese servicemen held by terrorists, since August, Speaker Nabih Berri said Tuesday, adding that results could materialize this week.
"There is important and positive progress in the case of the servicemen which will materialize this week," Berri was quoted by his visitors as saying. "The crisis cell [following up on the issue] has discussed this development. I was informed that the negotiator is working in this direction and I hope that these efforts will be fruitful."

ISIS and the Nusra Front are holding 25 Army soldiers and Internal Security Forces personnel they captured during five days of battles with the Lebanese Army in the northeastern town of Arsal. The captives are believed to be held on the outskirts of the town.

Military Operations in Qalamoun Major Success --- AL-BINAA

A military source told al-Binaa newspaper that the "military operation carried out by the Syrian army and the Resistance forces in Qalamoun has achieved a major and important part of its goals in a short time which is considered as a success." The source further added that "the operation should continue because otherwise it would be like a semi-surgery that would not give full results, especially which the terrorist groups are fleeing to the barren lands of Lebanon's Arsal which has become their hideout.

Moreover, the source anticipated that the terrorist groups would soon ask to retreat from the Lebanese territory towards a far region in Syria due to the siege they are under as well as cutting all supply lines and communication between them.

Also, the source told the paper that so far, in Qalamoun and the Lebanese outskirts of Arsal, there are around 8 thousand extremist fighters, wondering where these would go, and assuring that there is major cooperation between the Lebanese army and the resistance forces.

Half a Million Yemenis Displaced! --- THE INDEPENDENT

The United Nations said more than half a million people have been displaced in Yemen's conflict, where the capital was bombarded Tuesday for the first time since a ceasefire ended, said the Independent.

Hopes faded for a political breakthrough in the two-month conflict with a UN-sponsored peace conference originally set for next week put on hold because of the resumption of fighting.
A Saudi-led coalition has waged an air war on the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since March in an effort to restore the authority of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Riyadh.

The UN, citing Yemen's health services, said that as of May 15, some 1,850 people had been killed and 7,394 wounded in the violence in Yemen. Another 545,000 had been displaced, up from 450,000 announced on Friday.

Canadians Planning to Join ISIS Arrested--- THE NATIONAL POST

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested a group of young Montrealers on Friday on suspicion they were planning to travel to Turkey and then Syria to join jihadi fighters, Radio-Canada is reporting.
Ten youths, who were arrested at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport and all had their passports confiscated, the RCMP said in a statement.
Radio-Canada also reported that the authorities had established a link between the youths and a group of six teenagers from Montreal and Laval who were reported missing in January and suspected of flying to Turkey to cross into Syria to join the terrorist faction there. The two groups had communicated through social media, Radio-Canada reported.
Charges have yet to be filed against the members of the group who are suspected of attempting to join the ranks of the radical group that operates in Iraq and Syria.

Beheadings on the Rise in KSA--- THE GUARDIAN

Saudi Arabia is advertising for eight new executioners, recruiting extra staff to carry out an increasing number of death sentences, usually done by public beheading.

No special qualifications are needed for the jobs whose main role is "executing a judgment of death" but also involve performing amputations on those convicted of lesser offences, the advert, posted on the civil service jobs portal, said.

The Islamic kingdom is in the top five countries in the world for putting people to death, rights groups say. It ranked third in 2014, after China and Iran, and ahead of Iraq and the United States, according to Amnesty International figures.

A man beheaded on Sunday was the 85th person this year whose execution was recorded by the official Saudi Press Agency, compared to 88 in the whole of 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Amnesty said there were at least 90 executions last year.