Calls for Unity in Kurdistan Region to Guarantee Better Future

A woman dressed in ceremonial clothing stands with a torch before lighting-up a pyre during an Iraqi Kurdish celebration of Nowruz  in the northeastern city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Shwan MOHAMMED / AFP)
A woman dressed in ceremonial clothing stands with a torch before lighting-up a pyre during an Iraqi Kurdish celebration of Nowruz in the northeastern city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Shwan MOHAMMED / AFP)
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Calls for Unity in Kurdistan Region to Guarantee Better Future

A woman dressed in ceremonial clothing stands with a torch before lighting-up a pyre during an Iraqi Kurdish celebration of Nowruz  in the northeastern city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Shwan MOHAMMED / AFP)
A woman dressed in ceremonial clothing stands with a torch before lighting-up a pyre during an Iraqi Kurdish celebration of Nowruz in the northeastern city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Shwan MOHAMMED / AFP)

Leaders of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region on Saturday congratulated the people on the occasion of Nowruz, the Kurdish new year, calling for a new beginning based on unity to guarantee a better future.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani stated that Nowruz is a sacred national holiday. It is a symbol of victory and freedom to the Kurdish people, he added.

Barzani invited everyone to a new beginning and to benefiting from the mistakes of the past.

He added that ensuring a better life to citizens requires unity and cohesion, in addition to putting an end to the conflicts among the Kurdistan political parties.

Barzani urged all parties to convene to discuss the regional situation, and to find solutions based on constitutional rights.

“To resolve the issues with the federal government and the issues in Iraq in general, I reiterate that the Kurdistan Region will assist and be cooperative in the pursuit of stability and peace and a better future for the country,” Barzani said, adding that the UN and international community should help both parties reach a final agreement.

“Everyone should know that resolving the issues between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government is the key to peace, stability and prosperity in Iraq.”

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also congratulated the people on the occasion of the new year.

Barzani expressed hope that Iraq’s federal government will fully “implement the constitution and stabilize the political, economic, and security situation” in the country.



Lebanon's Caretaker Prime Minister Visits Military Positions in the Country's South

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) arrives with cabinet ministers for a meeting at Benoit Barakat barracks in Tyre, southern Lebanon, 07 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) arrives with cabinet ministers for a meeting at Benoit Barakat barracks in Tyre, southern Lebanon, 07 December 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon's Caretaker Prime Minister Visits Military Positions in the Country's South

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) arrives with cabinet ministers for a meeting at Benoit Barakat barracks in Tyre, southern Lebanon, 07 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) arrives with cabinet ministers for a meeting at Benoit Barakat barracks in Tyre, southern Lebanon, 07 December 2024. (EPA)

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has begun a tour of military positions in the country’s south, almost a month after a ceasefire deal that ended the war between Israel and the Hezbollah group that battered the country.
Najib Mikati on Monday was on his first visit to the southern frontlines, where Lebanese soldiers under the US-brokered deal are expected to gradually deploy, with Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops both expected to withdraw by the end of next month, The Associated Press said.
Mikati’s tour comes after the Lebanese government expressed its frustration over ongoing Israeli strikes and overflights in the country.
“We have many tasks ahead of us, the most important being the enemy's (Israel's) withdrawal from all the lands it encroached on during its recent aggression,” he said after meeting with army chief Joseph Aoun in a Lebanese military barracks in the southeastern town of Marjayoun. “Then the army can carry out its tasks in full.”
The Lebanese military for years has relied on financial aid to stay functional, primarily from the United States and other Western countries. Lebanon’s cash-strapped government is hoping that the war’s end and ceasefire deal will bring about more funding to increase the military’s capacity to deploy in the south, where Hezbollah’s armed units were notably present.
Though they were not active combatants, the Lebanese military said that dozens of its soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes on their premises or patrolling convoys in the south. The Israeli army acknowledged some of these attacks.