Hariri to Represent Lebanon at Mekkah’s 2 Urgent Summits

Prime Minister Saad Hariri. NNA file photo
Prime Minister Saad Hariri. NNA file photo
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Hariri to Represent Lebanon at Mekkah’s 2 Urgent Summits

Prime Minister Saad Hariri. NNA file photo
Prime Minister Saad Hariri. NNA file photo

Lebanese President Michel Aoun received on Sunday a written message from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz inviting him to attend the two urgent summits in the holy city of Mekkah on May 30 to discuss ways to enhance regional security and stability.

An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday that the cabinet is expected to task Prime Minister Saad Hariri to head the Lebanese delegation to the two summits.

Lebanon’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Fawzi Kabbara will join the delegation.

The summits will discuss means to enhance regional security and stability in the wake of the attacks on commercial vessels near UAE’s territorial waters and on two Saudi pumping stations by Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militias.

The sources said they would also tackle the dangerous repercussions of the recent attacks on peace, regional and international security and on the world oil market.

“Lebanon is concerned with regional security because any US-Iranian military confrontation might expand to Lebanon, particularly if Tehran asks Hezbollah to support it against any US or Israeli targets, in case Tel Aviv participates in the confrontations,” the source explained.

The two summits in Mekkah would also be an opportunity for Hariri to hold bilateral meetings with state leaders to inform them about the latest developments in Lebanon, particularly the Syrian refugee crisis and the 2019 austerity budget that Lebanon plans to approve to release aid pledged by donors at last year's CEDRE conference in Paris.

Also in Makkah, the Kingdom will host the 14th session of the Islamic Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on May 31 under the theme “Makkah Summit: Together for the Future.”



Iraq's Population Reaches 45.4 Million in First Census in over 30 Years

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)
Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)
TT

Iraq's Population Reaches 45.4 Million in First Census in over 30 Years

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)
Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)

Iraq's population has risen to 45.4 million, according to preliminary results from a national census, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Monday.
The census, conducted on Nov. 20, was Iraq's first nationwide survey in more than three decades, marking a crucial step for future planning and development.
Prior to the census, the planning ministry estimated the population at 43 million.
The last census, conducted in 1997, did not include the Iraqi Kurdistan region, which has been under Kurdish administration since the 1991 Gulf War.
It counted 19 million Iraqis and officials estimated there were another 3 million in the Kurdish north, according to official statistics.