Lebanese President calls for Arab unity to tackle challenges

Beirut: Lebanese President Michel Aoun has urged Arab leaders to unite in order to tackle the various challenges now facing the Arab world.

“We must work together to address different challenges, including defending the Palestinian cause and rights of Palestinian people, putting an end to wars in our countries, and not sparing efforts to fight against terrorism in addition to dealing with the biggest waves of displacement in modern history,” reported a statement by Lebanon’s Presidency quoted Aoun as saying on Saturday.

The President made the remarks during his meeting at Baabda Palace with Arab Foreign Ministers who had arrived in Beirut for the consultative ministerial meeting of the Arab League (AL), Xinhua news agency reported.

During the meeting, which was chaired by Lebanon, Aoun urged Arab countries to help his country secure a safe return of Syrian refugees to their homeland as Lebanon is suffering from a number of crises and can no longer support a big number of displaced refugees on its territory.

Lebanon is determined to resolve its multiple crises, the President said, adding the country has successfully held parliamentary elections and is now forming a government and seeking to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to prevent the country from collapse.

For his part, AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said the AL would support Lebanon, the Lebanese government and its people.

The AL’s Council of Foreign Ministers meets twice a year, in July and September, to discuss issues that concern the Arab nations.

(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)