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Syrian FM Says Will Visit European Countries in Coming Period

Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI
Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI
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Syrian FM Says Will Visit European Countries in Coming Period

Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI
Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said on Friday that he will visit European countries in the coming period.

He spoke during a press conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Damascus.

Tajani said he was traveling to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad, and said Europe should review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.

“It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.

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Arab World

Lebanese President to Consult on New Prime Minister from Monday

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Lebanese President to Consult on New Prime Minister from Monday

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)

Newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will hold consultations with members of parliament from Jan. 13 to nominate a prime minister, the presidency said on Friday.

Once named, the new prime minister must form a government, a process that often takes many months. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely seen as a frontrunner, but opposition parliamentarian Fouad Makhzoumi may have the backing of a number of lawmakers, political sources said.

The post is reserved for a Sunni figure in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, which also reserves the presidency for a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament post for a Shiite.

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Aoun as president on Thursday, filling a post that has been vacant since October 2022 with a general who has US support and showing the weakened sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.

In his first remarks as president on Thursday, Aoun said that he would work to assert the state's right to hold the monopoly on arms.

Mikati said on Friday that the state would begin disarming in southern Lebanon, to assert its presence across the country.

Lebanon and Israel agreed in November to a 60-day ceasefire that stipulates that only "official military and security forces" in Lebanon are authorized to carry arms.

The proposal refers to both sides' commitment to fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, including provisions that refer to the "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon".