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Shafik Returns to Cairo from Abu Dhabi on Board Private Jet

Egypt's former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik speaks during an interview at his residence in Abu Dhabi February 6, 2013. (Reuters)
Egypt's former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik speaks during an interview at his residence in Abu Dhabi February 6, 2013. (Reuters)
    Cairo, Abu Dhabi – Mohammed Nabil Helmi and Asharq Al-Awsat
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Shafik Returns to Cairo from Abu Dhabi on Board Private Jet

Egypt's former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik speaks during an interview at his residence in Abu Dhabi February 6, 2013. (Reuters)
Egypt's former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik speaks during an interview at his residence in Abu Dhabi February 6, 2013. (Reuters)

Three days after announcing his intention to run in the next presidential elections in Egypt, former Prime Minister Ahmed Sahfik returned to Cairo from Abu Dhabi on Saturday on board a private jet.

His lawyer Dina Adly Hussein told Asharq Al-Awsat that her client departed the United Arab Emirates to Egypt early in the morning on Saturday, while his family, including his daughter remained in Abu Dhabi.

An official source later confirmed her statement.

Shafik came in second to deposed President Mohammed Morsi in the 2012 presidential elections with over 12 million votes (49 percent of the tally). He departed to the UAE soon after his defeat fearing that he would be persecuted on corruption charges.

Charges were laid down against him, but he was acquitted of some, while the others were dropped.

Shafik was once considered close to former President Hosni Mubarak.

A prominent military commander, he was appointed commander of the air force in 1996 and later minister of aviation in 2002. In 2011, Mubarak tasked him with forming a new government.

An informed Egyptian source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Shafik received a deportation request from the UAE and that he was obligated to leave within two days.

Prior to his deportation, he was expected to embark on a tour of several European countries, including France, ahead of his announcement of his candidacy for the presidential elections.

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Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
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Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)

Lebanon has no plans to have normal relations with Israel at the present time, and Beirut’s main aim is to reach a “state of no war” with its southern neighbor, the country’s president said Friday.

President Joseph Aoun’s comments came as the Trump administration is trying to expand the Abraham Accords signed in 2020 in which Israel signed historic pacts with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In May, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said during a visit to France that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent military activities along their border from going out of control. Talks about peace between Israel and Syria have increased following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad from power in December.

Aoun added in comments released by his office that only the Lebanese state will have weapons in the future, and the decision on whether Lebanon would go to war or not would be for the Lebanese government.

Aoun’s comments were an apparent reference to the armed Hezbollah group that fought a 14-month war with Israel, during which it suffered major blows including the killing of some of its top political and military commanders.

Hezbollah says it has ended its armed presence near the border with Israel, but is refusing to disarm in the rest of Lebanon before Israel withdraws from five overlooking border points and ends its almost daily airstrikes on Lebanon.

Earlier this week, US envoy Tom Barrack met with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, saying he was satisfied with the Lebanese government’s response to a proposal to disarm Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s weapons have been one of the principal sticking points since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. Since then, Hezbollah fought two wars with Israel, one in 2006, and the other starting a day after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The Hezbollah-Israel war, which ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November, left more than 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction estimated at $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.

“Peace is the state of no war and this is what is important for us in Lebanon at the present time,” Aoun was quoted as telling visitors on Friday. He added that “the matter of normalization (with Israel) is not included in Lebanon’s current foreign policy.”

Lebanon and Israel have been at a state of war since 1948.