Arab Meeting in Cairo Reviews Nuclear Dangers of Israel, Iran

A general view of the Bushehr main nuclear reactor, 1,200 km south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)
A general view of the Bushehr main nuclear reactor, 1,200 km south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)
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Arab Meeting in Cairo Reviews Nuclear Dangers of Israel, Iran

A general view of the Bushehr main nuclear reactor, 1,200 km south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)
A general view of the Bushehr main nuclear reactor, 1,200 km south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. (Reuters)

The 55th meeting of the Arab Senior Officials Committee on Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) discussed in Cairo on Wednesday nuclear dangers posed by Israel and Iran.

The current meeting, held at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, is chaired by Iraq and attended by representatives of foreign ministries of the Arab League member-states.

For two days, the Committee will discuss a number of topics pertaining to nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction, in addition to armament in the region.

Participants will also evaluate the work of the 63rd session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, held in Vienna last September, in addition to an item on the dangers of the Iranian Bushehr nuclear reactor.

The Director of the Arab League's Department of Disarmament and Regional Security, Fadi Hanna Ashaia, said in a statement that the meeting would also evaluate the work of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was held in New York last month, upon a UN General Assembly resolution.

“The Arab strategic position is to free the Middle East from nuclear weapons, support the right of states to peaceful use of nuclear energy and any efforts to denuclearize the Middle East,” he said.



Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.