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Lebanon to Host Arab League Meeting at Weekend, Govt Says

Beirut seen through the smog. (AP)
Beirut seen through the smog. (AP)
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Lebanon to Host Arab League Meeting at Weekend, Govt Says

Beirut seen through the smog. (AP)
Beirut seen through the smog. (AP)

A delegation from Arab League countries will travel to Lebanon for a two-day gathering that includes meetings with the crisis-ridden country's top officials, Beirut's caretaker government said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said leaders including Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit would arrive in Lebanon on Friday.

Bou Habib said the final list of attendees had yet to be confirmed but included ministers from several Arab countries who would meet with Lebanon's president, caretaker prime minister and the speaker of parliament.

A government source confirmed Aboul Gheit would meet with President Michel Aoun on Saturday.

In his last visit to Lebanon in March, the Arab League chief had announced the body's next consultative ministerial meeting would take place in Beirut ahead of the full summit in Algeria in November.

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EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
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EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday she hopes a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions can be reached at a gathering of European ministers next week.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27.

European officials began rethinking their approach towards Syria after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president by opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which the United Nations designates as a terrorist group.

Some European capitals want to move quickly to suspend economic sanctions in a signal of support for the transition in Damascus. Others have sought to ensure that even if some sanctions are eased, Brussels retains leverage in its relationship with the new Syrian authorities.

“We are ready to do step-for-step approach and also to discuss what is the fallback position,” Kallas told Reuters in an interview.

“If we see that the developments are going in the wrong direction, then we are also willing to put them back,” she added.

Six EU member states called this month for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking.

Current EU sanctions include a ban on Syrian oil imports and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in Europe.