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)
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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.”



EU Foreign Ministers to Tackle Syria Sanctions Relief at End of Month

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
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EU Foreign Ministers to Tackle Syria Sanctions Relief at End of Month

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS

European foreign ministers will meet at the end of January to discuss the lifting of sanctions on Syria, the EU foreign policy chief said on Sunday in Riyadh ahead of a meeting of top Middle Eastern and Western diplomats and Syria's new foreign minister.

Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said the foreign ministers would convene in Brussels on Jan. 27 in an effort to decide how the 27-nation bloc would relax sanctions on Syria, Reuters reported.

After 13 years of civil war, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive by insurgent forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) a month ago. The group has since set up a caretaker government in Damascus.

Any European decision to ease sanctions would be conditional on the new Syrian administration's approach to governing, which must include "different groups" and women and "no radicalization", Kallas said, without elaborating.

"If we see the developments going to the right direction, we are ready to do the next steps...If we see that it's not going to the right direction, then we can also move back on this."