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Syrian Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Assad to Attend Arab Summit

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.
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Syrian Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Assad to Attend Arab Summit

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.

A senior Syrian official affirmed on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad will be in Jeddah to take part in Friday’s Arab League summit.

 

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Susan, said in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat that “Syrian President Bashar Assad will be present in Jeddah”.

 

For the first time in 12 years, Syria will participate in the preparatory meeting of senior officials for the Arab League Summit, scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia on 19 May.

 

Susan said it is common sense to have the summit held in politically-moderate Saudi Arabia.

 

In his remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Susan said that everyone wants the summit to be a prelude for a new phase.

 

“The importance of holding the summit in Saudi Arabia is unquestionable because it is evident and clear. Saudi Arabia, with its weight and moderate policies, everyone hopes that the Jeddah summit would pave the way for a new phase amid atmospheres of optimism.”

 

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Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
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Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun told lawmakers on Thursday that he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah's arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

In a first round of voting Thursday, Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. Of the rest, 37 lawmakers cast blank ballots and 14 voted for “sovereignty and the constitution.”
In the second round, he received 99 votes.

In his speech in parliament, Aoun also pledged to carry out reforms to the judicial system and fight corruption.

He promised to control the country’s borders and “ensure the activation of the security services and to discuss a strategic defense policy that will enable the Lebanese state to remove the Israeli occupation from all Lebanese territories” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has not yet withdrawn from dozens of villages.

He also vowed to reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs.”

Thursday’s vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.