DAILY SCOPE: Saudi ’Orders’ To Refrain from Visiting Lebanon Go Unheard

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS' HEADLINES:

AS-SAFIR:

US "Demand" to Saudi Arabia: Jets to Lebanon...From Your Money

Iran Starts New Page in Its History: Different Texture in Parliament's Political Balance

AL-AKHBAR:

"Al-Qaeda" and "Al-Aslah" in Yemen: Kinship

AL-JOMHOURIA:

Berri and Hariri: To confront Strife...Samaha's File Put Away

False Bets and Playing with Fire

AN-NAHAR:

Berri and Hariri: Beware Strife, Chaos and Division

Waste Crisis to be "Dumped" or to Explode on Thursday

AL-BINAA:

Ki-Moon Hails Truce...Riyadh and its Allies Talk about a "Soon" Collapse?

Lebanese newspapers on Tuesday shed light on the different topics, whether domestic or regional, with special focus on the ongoing repercussions of the Saudi escalation against Lebanon. The dailies underlined the ineffective measures and warnings carried out by the Saudi regime and its allies, especially in terms of preventing their citizens from coming to Lebanon.

The newspapers also touched on the latest developments in Syria, in light of the ongoing truce, as well as the latest events in Yemen.

AL-AKHBAR: Gulf Countries' Orders to Leave Lebanon Go Unheard

Arab fellow brothers from the Gulf countries have not abided by Saudi Arabia's orders to leave Lebanon and the Saudi warnings from visiting Lebanon went unheard, where the number 18 thousand Gulf nationals living in Lebanon barely altered during the past week.

"Despite the fact that the Gulf countries have been screaming out during the past ten days, calling on their citizens to avoid travelling to Lebanon, yet their people residing in Lebanon did not leave. The "orders" to immediately leave and "orders" to refrain from travelling to Lebanon issued by the Saudi and Emirati regimes, followed by calls from Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait were neglected and did not impede their citizens from staying in Lebanon," said al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, on the 23rd of February 2016, the General Security Directorate said there are 18181 people holding Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini, Qatari, and Omani nationalities in Lebanon. On the 28th of February, the Directorate registered 1395 of these leaving Lebanon, but the surprise was that 1184 citizens from these very countries arrived to Lebanon during the same week.

Well-informed political sources said that the ruling regime of al-Saud are still mad at the Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam and refuse to host him in Saudi Arabia, adding that the Saudi position towards Lebanon is heading to more escalation.

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil condemned the attacks on the Saudi embassy and consulate in Iran that followed Saudi execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, saying Lebanon's normal stance was to adhere to international laws, especially those governing human rights.

"The attack on the embassy happened outside of the state's consent and the authorities took necessary measures," Bassil said from Cairo, after an emergency Arab League session that gathered Arab foreign ministers to discuss escalating tensions in the region.

However, Bassil refused the session's final statement which classified Hizbullah as a terrorist organization and asked for the classification to be removed.

AS-SAFIR: Washington Pressures Saudi Arabia to Give the Aid to Lebanon

The "Lobby" of manufacturing arms and diplomacy in the US saved the deal including "29 Super Tocano" jets that were allocated to the Lebanese army, said As-Safir newspaper.
According to the daily, chief of the Lebanese army General Jean Qahwaji has received assurances from the US during his latest visit to Washington early in February that the planes will be delivered to the Lebanese army on the designated time; January 2017.

Well-informed sources also told As-Safir that the US was surprised by the Saudi decision to halt the one-billion dollar aid to Lebanon, especially that Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken to his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir a few days only before Saudi Arabia declared halting the aid.

As part of the Saudi uproar against Lebanon, Riyadh announced Friday that it was canceling $4 billion worth of grants for the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces. The move came in response to what the Kingdom claimed are "Lebanon's stances which are not in harmony with the brotherly relations between the two countries."

AL-JOMHOURIA: Berri Underscores Importance of Future-Hizbullah Dialogue

Sources told al-Jomhouria newspaper on Tuesday that the meeting between Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri and head of the Future Party Saad Hariri on Monday was dedicated to discuss a few matters including the ongoing dialogue between the Future party and Hizbullah.

According to the sources, Hariri expressed his desire to slow down the pace of talks, noting that the Future party members are exerting pressure on him to halt dialogue, especially following the latest developments including the latest tensions that hit Saudi-Lebanese relations.

Also, well-informed sources told al-Jomhouria that Berri, and during the previous dialogue session warned from the repercussions of halting dialogue between the two sides in light of the current situation and tensions in the country.

The same sources underscored that Berri, once again during a meeting with Hariri, reiterated the necessity to keep the dialogue between the two parties ongoing, because ending dialogue will expose Lebanon's stability and security to danger.

Source: al-Ahed News