Egypt Supports Introducing Regional Early Warning Systems for Water, Climate

Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)
Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)
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Egypt Supports Introducing Regional Early Warning Systems for Water, Climate

Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)
Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty speaks at Sunday's event. (Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry)

Egypt expressed its backing for the adoption of a plan to develop and apply a regional early warning systems over water and climate.

The step aims at increasing the readiness of all regional countries to address “extreme phenomena,” such as torrential rains and droughts, and protect citizens from the impact of climate change.

Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty participated virtually at a meeting of the Global Alliances for Water and Climate (GAfWaC) held on Sunday as part of the Dushanbe Water Conference hosted by Tajikistan.

He said Cairo attaches great importance to GAfWaC and works on rallying international support for the coalition at all international conferences given Egypt's scarcity of water resources.

The Alliance is one of the international initiatives that aim to achieve integration between water and climate agendas.

Its members include presidents Tajikistan and Hungary. It is also led by various relevant UN organizations, including the World Meteorological Organization, which is one of its major founders.

Abdel Aty stressed that climate change is one of the most pressing issues the world is facing, given its growing impact on water resources and food production across the world.

He called for intensifying national efforts to adapt to climate changes and providing the necessary funding to implement projects to that end, as well as taking the necessary measures to reduce emissions.

Egypt has implemented many projects in this field, including flood protection projects, which aim to protect citizens and buildings from the destructive effects of torrential rains, and beach protection projects, which aim to adapt to rising sea levels.

The minister underscored the importance of the participation of GAfWaC’s members in the COP27 Climate Summit, which will be held in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh in November.



Lebanon’s Jumblatt Visits Syria, Hoping for a Post-Assad Reset in Troubled Relations

Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon’s Jumblatt Visits Syria, Hoping for a Post-Assad Reset in Troubled Relations

Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Former head of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks on Sunday with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose group led the overthrow of Syria's President Bashar Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations between their countries.

Jumblatt was a longtime critic of Syria's involvement in Lebanon and blamed Assad's father, former President Hafez Assad, for the assassination of his own father decades ago. He is the most prominent Lebanese politician to visit Syria since the Assad family's 54-year rule came to an end.

“We salute the Syrian people for their great victories and we salute you for your battle that you waged to get rid of oppression and tyranny that lasted over 50 years,” said Jumblatt.

He expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

Jumblatt's father, Kamal, was killed in 1977 in an ambush near a Syrian roadblock during Syria's military intervention in Lebanon's civil war. The younger Jumblatt was a critic of the Assads, though he briefly allied with them at one point to gain influence in Lebanon's ever-shifting political alignments.

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he said, pledging that it would respect Lebanese sovereignty.

Al-Sharaa also repeated longstanding allegations that Assad's government was behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was followed by other killings of prominent Lebanese critics of Assad.

Last year, the United Nations closed an international tribunal investigating the assassination after it convicted three members of Lebanon's Hezbollah — an ally of Assad — in absentia. Hezbollah denied involvement in the massive Feb. 14, 2005 bombing, which killed Hariri and 21 others.

“We hope that all those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable, and that fair trials will be held for those who committed crimes against the Syrian people,” Jumblatt said.