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Arab Finance Ministers to Hold Emergency Meeting in Support of PA

Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian boy during clashes in West Bank. Reuters file photo
Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian boy during clashes in West Bank. Reuters file photo
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Arab Finance Ministers to Hold Emergency Meeting in Support of PA

Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian boy during clashes in West Bank. Reuters file photo
Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian boy during clashes in West Bank. Reuters file photo

The Arab League General Secretariat decided to hold an emergency meeting of Arab finance ministers at its headquarters in Cairo early next week to discuss the means to provide a financial safety net for the Palestinian Authority in face of Israeli pressure.
 
Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, said on Tuesday that it was decided to hold an emergency meeting at the invitation of Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and in coordination and consultation with the Palestinians.
 
Zaki added that the meeting next week comes in implementation of the resolution issued by the emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers, which was held in Cairo on April 21 in the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The resolution provided for the establishment of a financial safety net of $100 million per month in support of the State of Palestine to cope with political and financial pressures imposed by Israel.
 
On whether there were specific proposals from the Arab League to provide support to the Palestinians, Zaki said: “There are no specific suggestions, but the Palestinian side has welcomed grants and loans from Arab countries or financial institutions so that the Palestinian Authority can recover the funds and repay the loans.”
 
Zaki denied a link between the meeting of Arab finance ministers and the US economic workshop in Bahrain, stressing that the meeting comes in implementation of a previous decision of the Arab League.
 
Meanwhile, Aboul Gheit met on Tuesday with Azzam Al-Ahmad, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Central Committee of the Fatah Movement.

Discussions touched on latest political developments in the region, especially with regard to the Palestinian cause.

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Lebanon Returns 70 Officers and Soldiers to Syria, Security Official Says

A member of the security forces of the newly formed Syrian government inspects vehicles at a security checkpoint on the Syrian border with Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP)
A member of the security forces of the newly formed Syrian government inspects vehicles at a security checkpoint on the Syrian border with Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP)
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Lebanon Returns 70 Officers and Soldiers to Syria, Security Official Says

A member of the security forces of the newly formed Syrian government inspects vehicles at a security checkpoint on the Syrian border with Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP)
A member of the security forces of the newly formed Syrian government inspects vehicles at a security checkpoint on the Syrian border with Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP)

Lebanon expelled around 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally via informal routes, a Lebanese security official and a war monitor said.

Many senior Syrian officials and people close to the former ruling family of Bashar al-Assad fled the country to neighboring Lebanon after Assad's regime was toppled on Dec 8.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based organization with sources in Syria, and the Lebanese security official said Syrian military personnel of various ranks had been sent back via Lebanon's northern Arida crossing.

SOHR and the security official said the returnees were detained by Syria's new ruling authorities after crossing the border.

The new administration has been undertaking a major security crackdown in recent days on what they say are "remnants" of the Assad regime.

Several of the cities and towns concerned, including in Homs and Tartous provinces, are near the porous border with Lebanon.

The Lebanese security official said the Syrian officers and soldiers were found in a truck in the northern coastal city of Jbeil after an inspection by local officials.

Lebanese and Syrian government officials did not immediately respond to written requests for comment on the incident.

Reuters reported on Friday that Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of Assad charged in Switzerland with war crimes over the bloody suppression of a revolt in 1982, had flown out of Beirut recently, as had "many members" of the Assad family.

Earlier this month, Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said top Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban had flown out of Beirut after entering Lebanon legally.

In an interview with Al Arabiya, Mawlawi said other Syrian officials had entered Lebanon illegally and were being pursued.