Monday, 12 January 2015

Arab League delegation vows support for Lebanon


BEIRUT: An Arab league delegation met Monday with Lebanon's prime minister, foreign minister and parliament speaker, vowing to help the country with its Syrian refugee and security problems.


“All Arab states are fully ready to offer aid and support to Lebanon,” said Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabbah after his meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri.


Sabbah said that the Arab summit in Kuwait and the Arab Ministerial Councils both concluded with decisions to support Lebanon’s defense abilities, its counter-terrorism efforts and ease the burden of the Syrian refugee crisis.


Along with Sabbah, the delegation included head of the Arab League Nabil Elaraby and Mauritania’s Foreign Minister Ahmad Walad Takdi. They arrived on a private jet from Kuwait Monday morning.


“These decisions need follow up and commitment, especially concerning Lebanon’s security and stability and supporting it to face Israeli goals and intents,” Sabbah said. “In addition to supporting the Army and security forces and lightening the burden on our Lebanese brethren from the huge influx of Syrian refugees.”


The foreign minister noted that the Arab delegation would continue to hold talks with Lebanese officials and would issue a report to Arab foreign ministers to be presented during the next Arab summit.


In a joint press conference with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil Monday, Sabah reiterated the need to support Lebanon, and Arab states' willingness to offer all necessay aid.


Bassil said that “the meeting was an occasion to discuss terrorism," noting that the war on all religions in the region prompts Arab states to preserve their “diverse religious fabric.”


Bassil cited Lebanon’s official policy of disassociation from regional conflict before saying that only Israel benefits from conflict between Arab states. For that purpose Arab states have a responsibility towards unity, he added.


The absence of Lebanon's interference in the internal affairs of Arab states applies to the state of Bahrain as well, Bassil said, after the small island kingdom summoned Lebanon's chargĂ© d’affaires a day earlier over statements made by Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah in a speech two days earlier.


Bahrain's undersecretary for the ministry of foreign affairs claimed Sunday that Nasrallah’s criticism of the recent arrest of Bahrain's opposition leader hinders relations between the two countries and constitutes an interference in the internal affairs of Bahrain and the Gulf Cooperation Council.


Bassil said Nasrallah had the right to express himself.


"Freedom of expression in Lebanon sometimes can have a negative effect internally and externally, at other times it is positive," Bassil, whose Free Patriotic Movement party is allied with Hezbollah, said.



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