By Hussein Abdallah, BEIRUT: The ministerial committee in charge of drafting the new government's platform finally thrashed out a policy statement late Friday, with the council of ministers expected to ratify the draft on Monday before presenting  it to Parliament later next week.  Information Minister Tarek Mitri walked out of the committee's 14th and final meeting to tell reporters at the Grand Serail that the committee has finally reached an agreement over the ministerial statement despite some reservations by Minister of State Nassib Lahoud.  Mitri said that the reservations, which were later clarified by Lahoud, would hopefully be dropped after further consultations between the ministers and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora ahead of an expected cabinet session on Monday.

Regarding the controversial issue of how to refer to the resistance in the ministerial statement, Mitri said that the committee agreed on a phrase that speaks about the right of the Lebanese people, army and resistance to use any legal means to liberate the remainder of the Lebanese territories that are occupied by Israel, namely the Shebaa Farms, the Kafar Shuba Hills and the border village of Ghajar.  Mitri explained that some committee members wanted the phrase on liberating Lebanon's remaining occupied territories to include a clause stating that such activities should be carried out under the guardianship of the Lebanese state.  Mitri later gave the floor to Lahoud, who told reporters that he was still insisting that the statement should mention that the right to liberate the occupied territories should be exercised under the guardianship of the state.  The issue of the resistance was reportedly the main hurdle that was causing the delay in issuing the draft statement.

Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil also spoke to reporters after Friday's meeting, outlining his position on the new ministerial statement.  Bassil, a senior member of MP Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, said that his party has succeeded in making some achievements through the ministerial statement.  Bassil said that the FPM has succeeded in including in the statement a number of issues which were referred to as taboos in the past. Among such issues was the fate of Lebanese citizens who were reported missing in Syria or Lebanon following the end of Lebanon's 15-year Civil War, he said.  Another issue raised in the draft, according to Bassil, was the fate of some Lebanese nationals who fled to Israel following Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanonin May 2000. "The state's duty is to urge these people to return to Lebanon," he said.  He added that another achievement was the inclusion of a clause clearly rejecting the resettlement of Palestinians refugees in Lebanon.

Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to their children and in the event of separation, it is the father who gains automatic custody   BEIRUT, 22 July 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of children in Lebanon are denied full access to education, healthcare and residency because they do not have Lebanese citizenship.  Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to their children and in the event of separation, it is the father who gains automatic custody, according to Lebanese nationality law.  There is a saying in Lebanon: The only woman you