Turkish Forces Supervise Training, Graduation of Batch of Libyan Officers  

Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)
Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)
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Turkish Forces Supervise Training, Graduation of Batch of Libyan Officers  

Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)
Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. (Reuters)

The Commander of the Turkish forces in Libya, Colonel Osman Itaj, and Muhammad Al-Haddad, the chief of staff of the forces loyal to Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's Government of National Unity (GNU) attended on Friday the graduation ceremony of a new batch of infantry, artillery and armored school officers, after they received training by the Turkish army.  

Meanwhile, the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces announced his intention to form and build two infantry brigades and an artillery regiment, to boost the military.  

On a different note, Libya’s second vice-president, Abdallah El Lafi, arrived in Niamey on Friday participate in a summit on African industrialization and economic diversification.  

On Thursday, Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh announced that he met in the city of Al-Qubba, with Qatar’s ambassador, Khaled Al-Dosari, with whom he discussed bilateral relations, the latest developments on Libya, and means to end the Libyan crisis by holding elections.  

Al-Dosari was quoted as confirming his country’s support for Libya to overcome the current crisis, preserve the unity of the Libyan territory, support the political track, and hold free and fair elections based on consensus among Libyans.  

On the other hand, the Anti-Illegal Migration Authority in Libya organized, on Friday, land convoys to the eastern and southern borders of the country, to return more than 200 migrants to their countries of origin, in an unusual coordination between the divided authorities in eastern and western Libya.  

Since the beginning of this year and until last month, more than 20,000 migrants have been returned to Libya. While the fate of 714 migrants remains unknown, more than 400 drowned, according to the International Organization for Migration. Most of them cross Libya’s vast desert borders from Sudan, Chad, Niger and Egypt. 



Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.