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WFP to Double Efforts to Secure Syrians’ Needs

A truck transporting aid from the World Food Program (File photo by Alsouria Net)
A truck transporting aid from the World Food Program (File photo by Alsouria Net)
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WFP to Double Efforts to Secure Syrians’ Needs

A truck transporting aid from the World Food Program (File photo by Alsouria Net)
A truck transporting aid from the World Food Program (File photo by Alsouria Net)

World Food Program (WFP) Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Corinne Fleischer revealed on Thursday the program’s plans to double efforts to secure the Syrians' needs.

Foreign and Expatriates Minister Dr. Fayssal Mikdad discussed with Fleischer, and the accompanying delegation, developments related to food security in the region and the world, and the impact of terrorism and multifaceted international crises on the availability of foodstuffs in various regions of the world.

The meeting discussed several issues related to the WFP in Syria, and means to boost efforts in this regard, and insuring that aid is delivered without politicizing, SANA said.

Mikdad touched on the challenges facing the Syrians as a result of the inhuman unilateral coercive measures, in addition to the US practices in the northeast of Syria.

During the meeting, Mikdad stressed the need for the United Nations to play its role in halting the violations and exposing Western practices which have cost the Syrians more than $100 billion as direct and indirect losses.

Fleischer expressed her appreciation for the continuous support by the Syrian government to the WFP.

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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.