DAILY SCOPE: Sayyed Nasrallah to Deliver Speech on Presidency, ’ISIS’ Publicly in Arsal

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS' HEADLINES:
 
AS-SAFIR:

Nasrallah Does not Bail on Aoun or Pressure Allies

Rouhani and Hollande: A New Chapter Has Began
 
AL-AKHBAR:

EKO Getlini: Exporting Wastes; 80 Dollars per Ton

AN-NAHAR:

French-Iranian Agreement on "Friend Country"?

AL-JOMHOURIA:

Nasrallah Tackles Presidency Today

Government Inaugurates Its Activity with Appointments

Lebanese newspapers on Friday were busy with the televised speech to be delivered by head of the Hizbullah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The papers tried to anticipate what his stance will be on the matter. The dailies highlighted that the importance of the speech lies in the fact that this is the first time the Secretary General of Hizbullah designates a speech especially for discussing the presidential elections.

As-Safir newspaper weighed the speech to be delivered by Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, saying that since more than 3 decades, Hizbullah has not dedicated a speech for a single topic, which in today's case is the "presidential elections".

"It is clear that choosing this time to deliver a speech means that Hizbullah has not changed its tradition of dedicating the 16th of February to commemorate the martyrdom of the Hizbullah leader Haj Imad Moghnieh, in which the party would focus on the "Israeli" and Takfiri dimensions, especially in light of the latest developments on the Syrian level," said As-Safir.

Furthermore, the newspaper noted that when Sayyed Nasrallah intends to tackle any topic, whether domestic, regional or international, the Syrian scene is at the heart of his strategic mind, which is the basis for the reconstruction of balances in the region.

The newspaper also assured that Hizbullah adheres to the fact that the presidential elections should be a domestic matter resolved inside the borders of Lebanon, and that it is expected that Sayyed Nasrallah will in fact urge all sides to let go any expectations for the solution to come from abroad.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

AL-AKHBAR:

The Lebanese daily al-Akhbar on Friday expected that Sayyed Nasrallah will reply to all claims that Hizbullah is responsible for the presidential void in the country. Also, it anticipated that the Hizbullah Secretary General will also respond to those who try to exploit the presidential elections as a tool to find a split between the March 8 camp and the resistance.

"Sayyed Nasrallah is expected to reiterate Hizbullah's stance on endorsing head of the free Patriotic movement Gen. Michel Aoun for presidency, while also assuring that it does not ask anyone to neither run or withdraw in the electoral race," said the paper.

On another note, Kataeb [Phalanges] deputy chief Salim al-Sayegh told the daily that the dialogue between the party and Hizbullah has been ongoing since years ago but somehow was halted during the preparations for the Kataeb elections.

"Dialogue between the Kataeb and Hizbullah started years ago, particularly following the visit made by ex-President Amin Gemayel to [Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan] Nasrallah after the martyrdom of Pierre Gemeyel [Amin's son]," Sayegh told al-Akhbar daily.

He assured that bilateral meetings between MPs and Hizbullah officials such as MP Elie Marouni, Sayegh himslef, MPs Ali Fayyad, Nawaf al-Moussawi and Hizbullah official Ibrahim al-Mousawi have been taking place.

AL-BINAA: "ISIS", al-Nusra Clashes on Lebanese Territory

Sources told al-BInaa newspaper on Friday that heavy fights have been taking place between the ISIL terrorist forces and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra front group at the eastern borders of Lebanon.

Military sources told the newspaper that "ISIS" took advantage of the different strikes that targeted al-Nusra groups and their allies inside Syria, and launched attacks against them, through which "ISIS" was able to control three out of five crossings that were controlled by al-Nusra as well as taking control over around 30% of the land that was controlled by the latter.

The sources said Lebanon stands before a new challenge, as the "ISIS" terrorist groups publically declared it has entered Lebanon's Arsal.

"Obviously, this is a big challenge for Lebanon, and Lebanon should confront this problem as the military institution in Lebanon should engage with the terrorist groups to force them withdraw from Lebanon's territories," the sources said.

Source: al-Ahed News