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)
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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's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
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Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun told lawmakers on Thursday that he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah's arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

In a first round of voting Thursday, Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. Of the rest, 37 lawmakers cast blank ballots and 14 voted for “sovereignty and the constitution.”
In the second round, he received 99 votes.

In his speech in parliament, Aoun also pledged to carry out reforms to the judicial system and fight corruption.

He promised to control the country’s borders and “ensure the activation of the security services and to discuss a strategic defense policy that will enable the Lebanese state to remove the Israeli occupation from all Lebanese territories” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has not yet withdrawn from dozens of villages.

He also vowed to reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs.”

Thursday’s vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.