Lebanese FM Kicks off European Tour in Pursuit of Ceasefire

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Lebanese FM Kicks off European Tour in Pursuit of Ceasefire

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib kicked off on Sunday a European tour in pursuit of a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah and to garner support for the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701.

He will visit Italy, France, Spain and the Vatican.

Israel’s war on Hezbollah is in its fourth week and efforts have so far failed in reaching a ceasefire.

US envoy Amos Hochstein and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit are meanwhile expected in Beirut on Monday.

In Italy, Bou Habib will take part in a G7 meeting at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani.

He will explain Lebanon’s position in calling for a ceasefire and ending the Israeli hostilities through the full implementation of resolution 1701 and bolstering the deployment of the army south of the Litani River.

He will also ask for immediate humanitarian aid for the 1.2 million people who have been displaced by the fighting.

In Paris, he will hold talks with senior UNESCO officials to discuss means to protect Lebanese heritage sites and the education sector.

On Thursday, he will join caretaker Prime Minister and the Lebanese delegation at the Paris conference on Lebanon.

Bou Habib will be in Barcelona on Sunday and Monday to attend the Union for the Mediterranean foreign ministers meeting before returning to Beirut.



Türkiye Has No ‘Secret Agenda’ in Syria, Minister Says

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Has No ‘Secret Agenda’ in Syria, Minister Says

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye “does not have any secret agenda” in Syria and wants to construct a “new culture of cooperation,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday.

One of Türkiye’s priorities in the upcoming year is to clear the region of terrorism, Fidan said, referring to Kurdish militants based in northeast Syria. “The extensions of the separatist group in Syria are now facing destruction and the old order is no longer going to continue,” he told a news conference in Istanbul.

Fidan also criticized the United States’ support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, as the US seeks to prevent a revival of the ISIS group.

“This kills the spirit of alliance and solidarity,” Fidan said. He said Türkiye is “not going to shy away from taking the necessary steps” in terms of military action.

Türkiye views the SDF as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by Türkiye and other states.

Referring to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comments that US troops should stay in Syria, Fidan dismissed the views of the outgoing US administration. “This is the problem of the new government and the old government does not have a say in this,” he said.

The SDF is currently involved in fighting the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.

Fidan also backed suggestions for Syrian Kurds to join a new national military but said all non-Syrians fighting for the SDF — a reference to those with ties to the PKK — should leave the country.