Mikati: We Won’t Allow Harm to Security of Saudi Arabia or Gulf States

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati attends a joint press conference after his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart at the Grand Serail in Beirut, on September 30, 2021. (AFP)
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati attends a joint press conference after his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart at the Grand Serail in Beirut, on September 30, 2021. (AFP)
TT

Mikati: We Won’t Allow Harm to Security of Saudi Arabia or Gulf States

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati attends a joint press conference after his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart at the Grand Serail in Beirut, on September 30, 2021. (AFP)
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati attends a joint press conference after his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart at the Grand Serail in Beirut, on September 30, 2021. (AFP)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati underlined the government’s commitment to restore normal relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, stressing that the phone call with the Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al Sabah, “falls within this framework.”

In a statement on Monday, Mikati said: “I renew the Lebanese government’s commitment to adopt the necessary and required measures to bolster cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

He added that Lebanon “adheres to all decisions of the Arab League and of international legitimacy,” pledging to conduct “serious and concrete work” to implement their provisions “in a manner that guarantees Lebanon’s civil peace and national stability and fortifies its unity.”

Moreover, the Lebanese premier emphasized the country’s abidance by the Riyadh agreement for judicial cooperation and the extradition of wanted persons.

He said the government “will spare no effort to prevent the use of Lebanese financial and banking channels to carry out financial transactions that may affect the security of the Kingdom and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

He also stressed “commitment to the provisions of the Kuwaiti initiative.”



Biden Calls for Immediate Gaza Ceasefire in Call with Netanyahu

FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
TT

Biden Calls for Immediate Gaza Ceasefire in Call with Netanyahu

FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Biden "stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal," Reuters quoted it as saying.
Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.
The two leaders also discussed "the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region," the White House said.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union" program earlier on Sunday that the parties were "very, very close" to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line.
He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas.
"We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done," Sullivan said, "and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside."
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible "Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent."
During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and "the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense," the White House said.