Yemen’s President Meets with US, UN Envoys

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)
TT

Yemen’s President Meets with US, UN Envoys

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during his meeting with UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the accompanying delegation (Saba News)

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi affirmed the government's full support for the mission of the UN envoy to reach a comprehensive ceasefire.

Hadi said after meeting the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, in Riyadh that peace has always been Yemen's option and "we'll continue to seek peace as this is the choice of life for our people."

During the meeting, the Yemeni President reviewed the roots of the Yemeni crisis caused by the Houthi militia and the reasons for the insurgents’ obstruction of the political process.

He also touched on Tehran's role in the country and the militia's affiliation to the Iranian agenda aimed at destabilizing Yemen and the region.

The President also met with the US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, to discuss the ongoing efforts to realize peace and end the war in Yemen.

"We do agree with the US about the strategic issues, namely, not to transform the Iranian experiment to Yemen and the region, secure international marine lines, and fight terrorism."

Hadi also asserted Yemen's support to all regional and international efforts to reach permanent and comprehensive peace based on the GCC's Initiative, outcomes of the National Dialogue, and Security Council resolutions.

He noted the importance of international pressure on the militias to end the escalation and targeting of innocents, displacement camps, and other actions on cities and ports.

The US envoy confirmed Washington's support for Hadi and the government's efforts to achieve peace. He also affirmed support for Yemen and its unity, and for the efforts to achieve peace.



Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
TT

Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.