DAILY SCOPE: Hariri Progress in Shape and Not Content, Garbage Scandal Surfaces

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS' HEADLINES:

AS-SAFIR:

Nasrallah to Saudi Arabia, Turkey: Beware Getting Involved in Syria

Washington to Ankara: No Plans for Ground Operations in Syria

AN-NAHAR:

Will "VETOS" Fall Before March 2nd Session? - Wastes Deal Lost between Moscow and Beirut

AL-AKHBAR:

"Israel" Nerves Quneitra Front

UN: Most Civilians Killed by Saudi Arabia

AL-BINAA:

Nasrallah: We Reached Crossroads; We Will Win in Syria or in the Whole Region... "Israel" in Trouble

AL-JOMHOURIA:

"March 14" in 11 Years...Between the "End of a Dream" and Challenging "the Crowds"

AL-LIWAA:

Did Saudi Arabia Start its Procedures Against Lebanon?

Lebanese newspapers published in Beirut on Wednesday focused on the speech delivered by Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday night, in which he assured the readiness of the resistance at all times, and sent messages in different directions and to different sides while leaving out the Lebanese presidential elections from his speech. Sayyed Nasrallah dedicated the speech he delivered on the 'Loyalty to the Martyrs Leaders' ceremonies to reassure that the resistance has imposed a new deterrence power equation in the region, in terms of the "Israeli" occupation, and discussed the regional files, with special focus on Syria.

The newspapers also discussed the new national dialogue session that will be held today, Wednesday, in light of the movements and actions of MP Saad Hariri. More analysis on the Hariri latest speech delivered at the BIEL event rippled in the newspapers, stressing that it was not independent from the current nervous Saudi position and rather mirrored it. The dailies also tackled the garbage crisis and the decision to export wastes, revealing a scandal of "forged documents".

AL-BINAA: Sayyed Nasrallah Implied Any Coming War is the Last War

In the context of the speech delivered by Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, al-Binaa newspaper said that the chief of the resistance movement addressed the "Israelis", sending a message that says: "Watch out to play with fire and think about [launching a war]; any coming war will be the third and last, it will be your end."

Sources said that even though Sayyed Nasrallah did not utter these exact words, but it was what he meant.

"Apparently, this psychological war and the talk of a third Lebanon war will not work with us. We will not retreat, will never surrender, will never be weakened, and we will continue our military readiness," Sayyed Nasrallah said in his speech on Tuesday.

"I tell you that the position of Sheikh Ragheb Harb and the efforts of Hajj Imad Mughniyeh give you a strong resistance and new defensive and offensive capabilities, and is able to defeat "Israel" in any future war," Sayyed Nasrallah said.

AL-AKHBAR: Where is Saad Hariri's "Eagle"?!

MP Saad Hariri returned from his "voluntary exile" to Lebanon twice; but the Future Movement MP Oqab Sakr is still in hide... he breaks silence through a few tweets here and there, wrote al-Akhbar newspaper.

The newspaper added: Sources close to Sakr, AKA the Eagle, assured that his "absence is due to security reasons", knowing that Hariri himself overcame this factor and came back to Lebanon to appear in public.

"The MPs of the Future Bloc in Zahle almost forgot they have a colleague called Okab, while the Future party supporters in the area question the absence of the man to whom they gave their votes in 2009, who topped the list of candidates during the elections owing to his popularity at the time. [Okab] is a Shiite from the Bekaa area and was powerfully "implanted among the people of Zahle," the daily wrote.

It also noted that "voices criticizing his absence and "disappearance" do not echo only from the opposing rivals or those who do not benefit from his parliamentary privileges; many of these voices come from his supporters and fans who consider that his absence "has left a gap in the Future camp in the Bekaa valley."

Zahlé is the capital and largest city of Beqaa Governorate in Lebanon. With around 50,000 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous city in Lebanon after Beirut, Tripoli and Baalbek, and the fifth largest taking the whole urban area with its inhabitants predominantly Greek Catholic Christians.

Lebanese Future Movement MP Okab Sakr became a key player in the Syrian crisis, coordinating arms shipments to the terrorist groups and even arranging the kidnapping of an Emirati citizen on the orders of the UAE government. The parliamentarian, whose sectarian affiliation raises many questions among radical Islamists, is nevertheless considered by many to be the most important liaison between Saudi Arabia and Turkey in the Syrian war. Since the media hype on his role, Sakr has disappeared for what he and his political bloc claim as "security reasons".

AS-SAFIR: Improvement in Shape and Not Form, Compliance with Riyadh Palaces

In As-Safir newspaper on Wednesday, Ayman Akil wrote: MP Saad Hariri came back to Lebanon, but it seemed like he did not. On the annual event [held to commemorate the assassination of his father], Hariri came back to Lebanon and did what he had to do being head of "political Sunnism" in Lebanon, but his stances were in compliance with the Saudi sharp mood these days.

The writer noted that "head of the Future Bloc and MP Saad Hariri proved big change "in shape and form but not in the content.""

Akil went on in his piece: "Why did Hariri err? If you compare Hariri's first appearances, you can see the dramatic change in his speech and performance. Hariri succeeds now in interacting with the audience, and owns confidence that allows him to improvise jokes as well as control his voice intonations. He is not the most outstanding orator in Lebanon, but his consultants have done a good job."

Yet, pointing out to the very limited improvement in Hariri's rhetorical skills, and noting the strong support of Hariri to Saudi Arabia's politics, he added: "[These consultants] can ask [Hariri] to stop taking off his jacket on stage, they can improve his pronunciation, they can teach him to fill the gaps and differentiate between reading a speech and giving a speech, but they cannot control his adrenaline rush.

There is always a price to pay for improvisation; maybe it can be called mismanagement of the adrenaline flow into the punctuations of his speech, or failure to oppress the movements in the Riyadh palaces, at the time implicit "inferiority" towards the allies is present within the folds of the tongue."

The author underscored the rift between the March 14 allies: In shape, Hariri has made major progress, but not in content. He has no choice; he has to identify with the regional player [Saudi Arabia], and insulting the prominent March 14 Christian figure [Samir Geagea] is not a necessity in the compliance process.

Lebanese dailies earlier shed light to the attitude of MP Hariri towards his allegedly strongest ally Head of the Lebanese Forces MP Samir Geagea during the BIEL event. Hariri insulted Geagea twice during the ceremony, first when he turned his back to Geagea and embraced head of the Kataeb party Sami Gemayel during the memorial photo, and then once again when he directly mocked the reconciliation between Geagea and head of the free patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun.

AN-NAHAR: Country in Scandal; CDR Will Clarify Fake Document Issue

Lebanon's Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb has said that the Council for Development and Reconstruction [CDR] will clarify the ambiguity on the export of Lebanon's waste after a Russian official claimed Moscow received from Lebanese authorities a "fake document."

Shehayyeb, who is in charge of the waste management file, told An-Nahar daily published on Wednesday "The entire country is a scandal and some news outlets are happy about it."

"The CDR will clarify the issue at the appropriate time. Its legal department is the official party tasked with studying all the documents on the export of the garbage," he said.

Shehayyeb's remarks came after Nikolai Gudkov, press officer at the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, rejected that Russia gave the green light to send Lebanon's waste to a Russian province.

"The document that we received from the embassy of the Lebanese Republic with regards to our agreement to receive the waste is fake and forged," the Tass Russian news agency quoted Gudkov as saying on Monday, adding that it has an "unregistered signature".

Source: al-Ahed News