Mikati Holds Talks with World Leaders in Scotland on Ways to Resolve Lebanon’s Crisis with Gulf

Mikati meets with French President Macron in Glasgow on Monday. (Reuters)
Mikati meets with French President Macron in Glasgow on Monday. (Reuters)
TT
20

Mikati Holds Talks with World Leaders in Scotland on Ways to Resolve Lebanon’s Crisis with Gulf

Mikati meets with French President Macron in Glasgow on Monday. (Reuters)
Mikati meets with French President Macron in Glasgow on Monday. (Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati held talks in Glasgow on Monday with various world leaders on ways to resolve Beirut’s dispute with the Gulf in wake of Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi’s offensive remarks against Saudi Arabia.

Mikati, who was taking part in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, met with French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel

The PM held a series of meetings with Arab and international leaders on the situation in Lebanon, ways to support it and end its current crisis, said a statement from his press office.

Mikati also met with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who informed him he will dispatch his foreign minister to Beirut to address pending issues and the Gulf dispute.

Mikati also met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khalid al-Hamad Al Sabah. Talks focused on “Lebanon’s keenness on the close relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council and efforts to address any problem through the spirit of fraternity and cooperation.”

Sheikh Khalid informed Mikati of Kuwait’s keenness on Lebanon and its constant efforts to support it in all fields. “At the same time, it is also keen on the unity of the GCC state,” he added, according to Mikati’s office.

“Lebanon can address any problem and it will find all the necessary support from Kuwait and other Arab countries,” he stressed.

Mikati held talks with European Council President Charles Michel on ways the bloc can support Lebanon. He met with International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva, who informed him that the organization was determined to help Lebanon resolve its current crisis.



Tunisia Detains Prominent Lawyer Souab

Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
TT
20

Tunisia Detains Prominent Lawyer Souab

Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Members of the honor guard stand at attention during a flag-raising in place of Kasba in Tunis, Tunisia, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

Tunisian police on Monday detained Ahmed Souab, a prominent lawyer and fierce critic of the country's president, lawyers told Reuters, raising human rights groups' concerns that a crackdown on dissent will go ahead.

Souab is among the lawyers acting for opposition leaders who received lengthy prison sentences on Saturday on conspiracy charges.

Souab strongly criticized the judge and the trial on Friday, calling it a farce and saying the judiciary had been completely destroyed.

"It seems he was detained because of his critical comments on the trial on Friday," said Samir Dilou, one of Souab's lawyers. Two others lawyers confirmed the detention.

Political parties rejected the rulings, saying they were retaliatory after a trial aimed at cementing President Kais Saied's authoritarian rule.

Rights groups say Saied has had full control over the judiciary since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. He dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges in 2022.

"The mass conviction of dissidents...is a disturbing indication of the authorities' willingness to go ahead with its crackdown on peaceful dissent," the human rights group Amnesty International said.

Those convicted included prominent leaders of the Islamist Ennahda party, the main opposition party to Saied.

Ennahda Vice President, Noureddine Bhiri received a 43-year prison sentence, while the court sentenced two senior party officials, Said Ferjani and Sahbi Atig, to ​​13 years each.

The largest sentence was 66 years for businessman Kamel Ltaif, while opposition politician Khyam Turki received a 48-year sentence.