DAILY SCOPE: Internet Scandal Masterminds Protected, Electricity in Syrian Camps Cost Lebanon $400 Million

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS' HEADLINES:

AN-NAHAR:

Beirut Ready for Campaigns, Jounieh Joins Zahleh

AS-SAFIR:

Syria Bleeds Capitals of Humanitarian History: Aleppo is Burnt

AL-AKHBAR:

Municipal Elections Annuls Legislative Decision to Extend for Parliament

AL-JOMHOURIA:

Politicians Resting before Discussing Electoral Draft-Law

AL-BINAA:

US Military: al-Nusra in Control of Aleppo, War with it within Truce

AD-DIYAR:

Hariri Searching for A Route to Reach Grand Serail

Lebanese newspapers on Thursday shed light on the preparations taking place for the municipal elections in Lebanon, and focused as well on the "chatter" in Lebanon's banking sector following the US financial ruling that prevents any transactions to take place with Hizbullah. In addition, the Lebanese dailies followed up on the "internet scandal" as well as other domestic files.

AL-JOMHOURIA: Russia to Provide Help to Lebanese Army

Al-Jomhouria newspaper on Thursday revealed that the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has expressed readiness to provide military aid to Lebanon to help it confront terrorist threats.

Informed sources said that the Minister informed his advisers to set a date for the joint committees to meet next June to discuss the details of the assistance, the newspaper reported.

The sources added that Moscow has accepted to provide the Lebanese army with helicopters as well as other equipment, and will inform Army Chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji of the decision during his upcoming visit to Russia.

According to al-Joumhouria, a contract signed between the two sides for Russia to provide Lebanon with rocket launchers and anti-tank guided Cornet will be renewed.
This comes as the Lebanese army strives in combatting terrorism and protecting Lebanon from the al-Qaeda affiliated groups especially at the eastern borders of Lebanon.

AL-AKHBAR: Illegal Internet Scandal Master Minds Protected

Al-Akhbar newspaper on Thursday considered that the Lebanese people have to forget about the "illegal internet scandal" that rocked the country two months ago, adding that following two months of investigations and political consensus that there is a financial scandal of security nature, the case was ended with several frail verdicts by the judiciary involving "small" actors, while the "masterminds" and "big" actors including officials and company owners were untouched.

According to the newspaper, the internet file basically includes a group of people who worked in the illegal internet sector, refraining from paying their taxes to the treasury of Lebanon which is estimated with around 200 million dollars every year. Furthermore, according to the source, the scandal includes people such as Abdel Menem Youssef who basically controls the telecoms sector, adding that the latter is protected by "big people" particularly Fouad Seniora.

This scandal, says al-Akhbar, once again reveals the corrupt nature of the Lebanese government which has decayed at the time a private sector fills its place, providing bad services to the citizens and ripping them off their money.

The Lebanese government has been busy investigating illegal internet companies for the past couple of weeks. The scandal includes illegal large communication devices and towers installed in several areas across Lebanon and a 40GB per second bandwidth bought from Turkey and Cyprus and equivalent to 1/3 of the bandwidth set by the Telecom ministry.

Also, the "internet scandal" includes a huge number of minor and major companies that have overpassed laws and regulations and justified taking internet provided by Cyprus and Turkey, saying that the demand for internet services has been increasing in light of scarcity of state services.

Earlier this month, Head of the Parliamentary Media Committee MP Hassan Fadalallah stated that the illegal internet network file is growing like a snowball, but assured that the committee's efforts will continue until the perpetrators behind this scandal are revealed.

AN-NAHAR: $ 400 Million Cost of Electricity in Syrian Camps, Ant Form of Normalization Rejected

Ministerial sources told An-Nahar newspaper that a long discussion took place at the ministerial council on Wednesday, concerning a new suggestion by the Energy ministry to set up electricity meters at the Syrian refugees' camps to prevent the direct use of electricity lines from the public network in the country.

According to the newspaper, an annual consumption of around $ 400 million by the Syrian camps take place in Lebanon, where the country already suffers a major problem with electricity. The suggestion was not welcomed at the session, and did not meet approval for reasons that were expressed by labor Minister Sajaan Qazzi, who stressed that anything that could lead to the naturalization of the Syrians in Lebanon is rejected, yet he assured that they should not be deprived from essential living needs.

He added that the problem can be solved through the help of the donor countries who should bear responsibility in this crisis.

Since Lebanon's civil war and "Israeli" occupation, the electricity infrastructure has been damaged and in bad shape, and hence the Lebanese people suffer long hours of electricity cut off that is solved by local generator companies that provide people with electricity but for very high prices.

Source: al-Ahed News