Lebanon's PM to Skip UN General Assembly

A file picture shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during an interview with AFP at his office in Beirut on October 30, 2023. (AFP)
A file picture shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during an interview with AFP at his office in Beirut on October 30, 2023. (AFP)
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Lebanon's PM to Skip UN General Assembly

A file picture shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during an interview with AFP at his office in Beirut on October 30, 2023. (AFP)
A file picture shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during an interview with AFP at his office in Beirut on October 30, 2023. (AFP)

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday he will not go to New York to attend the UN General Assembly because of the ongoing acts of violence with Israel.

Mikati’s office said the prime minister was scheduled to give Lebanon’s speech later this month at the United Nations but now he will discuss Lebanon’s diplomatic moves with Foreign Minster Abdallah Bou Habib who is currently in New York.

“There is no priority at the present time than stopping the massacres committed by the Israeli enemy,” Mikati was quoted as saying, a day after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed 37 people and wounded 68.

Mikati said he calls for drafting international laws that prevent the use of civilian technological devices for military purposes.

Mikati’s comments came days after thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000 members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. Israel was blamed for the attack.



UK's Starmer Discussed Importance of a Ceasefire With Lebanon's PM

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
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UK's Starmer Discussed Importance of a Ceasefire With Lebanon's PM

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Lebanese counterpart at the United Nations and discussed the importance of an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated solution in the conflict with Israel, his office said on Friday.
Starmer met Lebanon's Najib Mikati at the United Nations General Assembly, reported Reuters.
"The Prime Minister opened by giving his sincere condolences to Prime Minister Mikati for the loss of civilian life in recent weeks," the statement said.
"They discussed the escalating conflict in Lebanon, and agreed on the importance of an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated solution."