Without further ado, As-Safir, August 31, 2005:

Above the fold, big headline

Mehlis "surrounds" Lahoud with suspicion and arrests his security group
(perhaps better translated as "Security Cabal"??)

Smaller, above:

Security Council Continues Hearings and Renews Calls for Syrian Cooperation

Still smaller, below:

Inspector Elias 'Id interrogates Sayyid, Haj, 'Azar, Hamdan, and Nasir Qandil.

Jumblatt: We must look for a new President.

Big story of the day, taking up half the front page and the entire above-the-fold region. The story is pretty straight narration: Detlev Mehlis, head of the UN commission investigating Rafiq Hariri's death, went to the minister of Justice and the PM and requested the arrest of these five men, and they were subsequently detained for questioning by the Commission. The five men include former director of General Security Jamil as-Sayid, the former director of Internal Security "Ali al-Haj, the former director of Army Intelligence Raymond 'Azar, current head of the Presidential Guard Mustafa Hamdan, and former MP Nasir Qandil.

Walid Jumblatt, who's been calling for the replacement of President Emile Lahoud, said, "President Lahoud is finished, and we need to find a new President".

Below the fold (big headlines only):

American Slaughterhouse in al-Qa'im: 56 Dead

(subtitle: Washington Reopens Discussions on Clauses of the Constitution)

Opens with a report on the airstrikes in al-Qa'im, near the Syrian border. Briefly reports on remarks by Zalmay Khalilzad on how the final draft of the Iraqi constitution is maybe not quite so final, then quotes from President Bush's speech at a World War II memorial at some length.

"Al-Madina" sealed with red wax

A photo of the closing of a bank in the Hamra district of Beirut, at the decision of the primary branch. I guess "sealed with red wax" means "closed its doors" or something like that. Strange.

Joseph Samaha: A dose of "truth" restores health

Joseph Samaha: A dose of "truth" restores health (or something like that - anyone know what maDaad (meem Daad alif daal) means? T'ain't in Hans Wehr, or at least I couldn't find it)

Joseph Samaha is a big reason why I'm not doing a full translation. Ow. Read the thing three times, making copious use of good old Hans Wehr, and I still don't really know what he's trying to get at. I think he's saying that the commission has a chance now to help the Lebanese body politick to clear up the suspicion that has infected it lo these many years and inhibited its proper function. Also, later on, he notes that there remain two questions about how much farther the commission's probe will go: will it finger President Lahoud himself? And will it accuse members of Syrian state security?

I think Mr. Samaha is one of those writers who attempt to obviate argument through obscurity. That last paragraph took me an hour to write. I particularly appreciated spending twenty minutes trying to translate the phrase "the power to cut through clouds of obscurity" (qadr min al ta'yiin al maHaat binuu' min al ghamuuD).

Netanyahu is Nominated for Leadership of Likud: "Sharon is Ruining the Party"

Sulayman: We are with you until you achieve a state within the '67 borders

(subtitle: [Egyptian] Government Refuses Israeli Control over the Rafah Border for 6 Months)

Sulayman is 'Abbas Sulayman, head of Egyptian Intelligence, who in a recent press conference reiterated Egypt's support for a Palestinian state in all of the pre-'67 Palestinian territory. (That is, the whole West Bank plus Jerusalem.

There's also a front-page ad paid for by AMAL, commemorating the disappearance of Musa Sadr and announcing an official ceremony at the national stadium.

(There's a big picture of flooding in Norleans on the back page, if anyone's wondering.)