of the statement before moving on to the economic aspect.
According to Al-Liwaa newspaper clauses 5 and 6 of the statement are still the subject of dispute between the Opposition and Christian leaders within the March 14 alliance.
The opposition is insisting that the same approach used in the previous policy statement should apply in this case, while March 14 Christians voiced no objection to that on condition that the phrase "the government makes decisions about war and peace" is added to clause 5, Al-Liwaa sources said.
Al-Liwaa sources said the Opposition represented by Hezbollah State Minister Mohammad Fneish refused to add this paragraph. This means that Hezbollah is reserving the right to declare war and peace , which is of course totally unacceptable to the majority since this undermines the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon
Al-Liwaa sources also said Clause 6 which is related to Lebanon's obligations toward international resolutions remains unresolved because the opposition wants the term "respect" U.N. resolutions while the majority wants the word "commitment "
On the economic situation the majority is insisting on privatization while the Hezbollah-led opposition is opposed to the idea. Former Minister Jihad Azour told VOL this morning : “Privatization is aimed at strengthening the economy by developing vital sectors, reducing public debt and providing better services to all citizens in the telecom sector.”
Tuesday
9:49 pm French FM Bernard Kouchner says president Abbas is “indispensable” for peace process
9:37pm US: Jerusalem homes plan makes new peace talks difficult
9:26 pm US “objects” to Jerusalem settlement work. Israel approved earlier today 900 new housing units in east Jerusalem
9:13 pm March 14 wins AUB student elections in the Faculties of Engineering, Business, Agriculture, and Arts Sciences
8:17 pm Information minister Mitri: Ministerial Statement committee’s Tuesday meeting “fruitful”
7:54 pm Saudi Arabia announces that Friday, November 27 is the first day of Eid al-Adha
6:30pm President Suleiman met with Interior Minister Ziad Baroud over the security situation in the country and the stages completed by the committee tasked with drafting the ministerial policy statement.
6:30 pm MP Sami Gemayel: The continued sacrifices by the Kataeb party led others to believe they can sacrifice the Kataeb party again
6:18 pm: Issam Farris center started the conference on Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon and the emphasis is going to be "rejection of naturalization of Palestinians in Lebanon"
5:39 pm Hariri presides over Ministerial Statement drafting committee meeting at Grand Serail
5;30 pm Summit on world food security in Rome: "Today, more than 1 billion people are hungry," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said... Six million children die of hunger every year -- 17,000 every day, he said.
5:20 pm BBC Four Israeli soldiers have been disciplined for protesting against the evacuation of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
5:15 pm French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Riyadh to meet with Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz. The discussions are expected to be dominated by peace in the Middle East
5:09 pm CNA : MPs Jumblatt and Franjieh will meet tomorrow at Baabda palace in the presence of the president who will also host them for lunch
4:00pm Yvonne Abdul Baqi, Head of the Andean Parliament, an Ecuadorian of Lebanese origin, arrived in Beirut to participate in "Lebanon 2020"conference that starts tomorrow.
3:00 pm Lebanon Files : Walid Ashkar a Lebanese citizen and a supporter of General Michel Aoun's FPM was arrested in Damascus during a private visit to Syria . No reasons given until now for the arrest
4:25pm VOL: Lebanese army restores calm in Baalbek after gunfire exchange
2:40pm MP Marwan Hamade was elected as head of Environment Parliamentary Committee, and MP Asem Qanso was elected as its rapporteur.
2:32pm Judge Saqr Saqr charged 10 Fatah al-Islam members, including a man known as Sikamo, with forming an armed gang.
1:20pm VOL: Clashes with machine guns and RPGs broke out between Jaafar and Wehbe clans in Baalbek’s Sharawneh neighborhood.
12:57pm PM Saad Hariri met with the Jordanian and Sudanese ambassadors and discussed with the Palestinian charge d’affaires Nahr al-Bared’s reconstruction.
12:20 Former PM Fouad Siniora presides over Future bloc meeting in Qoreitem
12:10pm Kuwait’s ambassador visited the Higher Judicial Council and toured the Beirut Justice Palace: I will inform the Kuwaiti leadership about what I saw today and we will discuss what kind of aid we could provide.
11;12 LBC: MP Robert Ghanem denied reports of a “political decision” to postpone the municipal elections, which are scheduled to take place in May 2010.
10:50 Four Palestinians were wounded in a shootout in the Rashidiyeh refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
8:23 Minister Youssef Saadeh told VOL: There is a positive atmosphere in relations between Jumblatt and Franjieh. There are no major differences over the policy statement.
8:20 Former Minister Jihad Azour told VOL: Privatization is aimed at strengthening the economy by developing vital sectors, reducing public debt and providing better services to all citizens in the telecom sector.
8:17 Minister Hassan Mneimneh told VOL: No major obstacles are hindering the formulation of the policy statement. Discussing the issue of arms on the national dialogue table would ease pressure on the ministerial statement.
Monday
9;00pm The United States voiced its opposition on Monday to unilateral Palestinian moves to seek recognition for an independent state, saying negotiations with Israel are the best way forward.
8:16pm MP Fatfat told MTV: the response to the draft of the ministerial policy statement has been positive and if Hariri asks me to accompany him on his trip to Syria I will do so
7:20 pm NYT: International inspectors who gained access to Iran’s newly revealed underground nuclear enrichment plant raised questions in a report released on Monday about whether the country may have also concealed other nuclear factories.
7:10 pm Reuters: Israel warned the Palestinians on Monday that declaring a state without concluding a peace agreement would lead to Israeli counter-measures that could include annexation of more of the occupied West Bank.
7:05pm PM Saad Hariri is meeting with a delegation from March 14 forces general-secretariat.
6:07pm President Suleiman met with Head of the Higher Judiciary Council Ghaleb Ghanem and they discussed the work of the council and judicial authority in general.
4:16 pm Israeli Opposition leader and Kadima chair Tzipi Livni called for a renewal of substantial peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, stressing that the lack of such negotiations is contrary to Israel's good.
4:15pm Musbah al Ahdab: Hezbollah is arming some factions in Tripoli and the problem is the lack of political direction to the military institutions on how deal with the problems of the city
4:05pm Hariri met with Internal security chief General Rifi to discuss the security situation in the country
4:01pm MTV: Unconfirmed information point to keeping the same paragraph used in the last ministerial policy statement with regards to Hezbollah arms
3:44 pm Pakradonian : The ministerial policy statement discussions will not take a long time and all sticking issues will be left for dialogue talks
3:30pm Hariri after meeting with the ministerial committee: Things are going in the right direction and you will notice a change in the way we will deal with all issues