DAILY SCOPE: Lebanon, Hizbullah Both Targets of Explosion...Fiscal Stability Red-Line!

Local Editor

LEBANESE DAILIES:

AS-SAFIR:

Tripartite Understanding: Northern and Southern Aleppo, and East Syria

Orlando Attack: Precious "Daesh" Gift to Trump

AN-NAHAR:

Financial Stability Protection Mobilizes Banking Sector

Rushing Investigations and Firm International Commitment

AL-AKHBAR:

Aoun Supporters Hopes are Baseless; Hariri Adherent to Franjieh

Arab-International Proposal: No Hizbullah in Any Future Government

AL-BINAA:

Berri: Banks, Hizbullah Both Targeted...Salam Encourages Calm Dialogue between the Two

AL-JOMHOURIA:

Fiscal, Security Stability Red-Line

AD-DIYAR:

Berri: Explosion Targets Lebanon in First Place, Hizbullah in Second

As newspapers focus on the explosion that targeted BLOM Bank in Beirut's Verdun area, other issues are put on hold. Newspapers on Tuesday focused on the repercussions of the attack, stressing that many officials considered that the attack targets Lebanon and Hizbullah at once.

House Speaker Nabih Berri was the first to condemn the explosion and those implying that it is an act of terror carried out by Hizbullah, assuring that the sinful hands that rattled the Lebanese on Sunday evening target the nation first and Hizbullah second.

AS-SAFIR: BLOM Bank Bombing; Message of Sedition Par Excellence

The bombing that targeted the BLOM bank on Sunday is a "message of sedition par excellence" that targets all the Lebanese people in general and the Hizbullah party in particular, taking advantage of the clear political rift between the banking sector and the resistance party, said As-Safir newspaper on Tuesday.

According to the paper "the soft American war has freshly incepted, and new seasons of this war are yet to come."

"The first to blame is the Lebanese government itself, which knew that the US act was ripening in 2014 when the Lebanese ambassador to Washington Antoine Shedid had sent several diplomatic telegrams to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry in which he explained the development in terms of the US institutions' stances," noted the daily.

"The US Administration's recent targeting of the resistance and its people via the banking sector shall fail to achieve its goals," Loyalty to Resistance bloc said in a statement in the wake of its periodic meeting, under the chairmanship of bloc head, MP Mohammed Raad.

"The government and the Central Bank are directly concerned with protecting Lebanon's sovereignty and its monetary and social stability," the bloc said, categorically considering the recent stance by the Central Bank Governor as 'ambiguous and suspicious' which demonstrates the insubordinate of the monetary policy from the national sovereignty constraints.

AL-JOMHOURIA: Lebanese Army, Security Forces Up Readiness, Tighten Security Measures

A well-informed military source told al-Jomhouria newspaper on Tuesday that "The Lebanese army forces have upped their readiness and tightened security measures in the Lebanese capital, especially in the banks street."

In cooperation with the security forces, the army increased security measures around all banks in Lebanon to prevent any further attacks from taking place.

The source stressed that "Fiscal stability is a red line, just like security and stability in the country, and therefore no one will be allowed to harm it because that would mean harming all the Lebanese people."

A bomb went off Sunday evening outside a branch of the BLOM Bank in Beirut's Verdun area, injuring two people. Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq said the bomb was inside a suitcase that was placed outside the bank, noting that the blast did not seem to be related to the previous wave of bomb attacks in the country or to any recent intelligence information that security agencies have received about possible terrorist attacks.

Sources had also said that it has become clear that Hizbullah is at row with the banking sector after the US sanctions went into effect, where the US has been trying through different means to choke the resistance and its people and supporters through putting pressure on its social and medical institutions.

AL-BINAA: Hizbullah, Banking Sector Continue Dialogue, Meetings Will Continue

The communication and meeting between Hizbullah and the head of the Central Bank are ongoing, reported sources to al-Binaa newspaper.

According to the source, "the situation has become more sensitive and delicate after the targeting of BLOM Bank in Beirut's Verdun on Sunday, and therefore requires delicacy when dealing with it."

The sources stressed that "The only side that has the right to issue an official stance on the explosion is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc," assuring that "the meetings between the two sides will continue."

Furthermore, the source said that the attack on the back will not complicate the relation between head of the Central Bank Riyadh Salameh and Hizbullah, but will rather make both sides keener on securing stability in the country and resolving the matter.

Source: al-ahed News