The Arab foreign ministers concluded their consultative meeting in Beirut, where the opening session was chaired by the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah Bouhabib.
After the meeting, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, indicated that what happened today in the Lebanese capital is “the exchange of discussion on any topic and no written decisions are issued, nor decisions for this type of meeting, but rather a discussion.”
He added in a press conference with the caretaker foreign minister, Abdullah Bouhabib, “We discussed the upcoming summit, the preparations for it, its context in general, its date and who will attend it.”
He continued, “We discussed Syria’s presence, and no decision was taken. Rather, discussions were held to exchange views to transfer them to the theater of decisions. We discussed the Ukrainian war, food and energy, and the Somali issue, which is likely to expose millions of Somalis to the risk of starvation, and we have some initial ideas to help the Somali people.”
And he added: “We discussed the Palestinian issue in light of the American and Israeli moves, and how we interact with all these situations, and we did not agree on anything because they are discussions and we will not announce them.”
Aboul Gheit considered that “the meeting was good and reasonable, and the presence at this particular time in Lebanon, with its extremely difficult economic and political conditions, is a message from the Arab countries that we support settlements and stability.”
He also said: “We support Lebanon with its negotiations with the World Bank and reforms, and it was a meeting to support Lebanon morally because the Arab League cannot give energy and electricity, but rather urges reform, and we came to say that there is a problem and you must strive to solve it.”
He continued, “Everyone supports the end of the pressure of the displaced Syrians, and the Lebanese state provides care to all of them, but when it takes decisions such as agreeing to the return of refugees to their country, there must be certain conditions.”
Regarding Syria, he said: “There has been a civil war, destruction, and no less than 500 billion dollars to rehabilitate the Syrian infrastructure. These issues are very intertwined and are not resolved by a decision only. But the will of the international community to end the Syrian war is still pressing the file of the displaced in Lebanon, Jordan and others.”
In turn, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in the Lebanese caretaker government, Abdullah Bou Habib, focused on the issue of Syrian refugees and displaced persons.
He pointed out that “the international community is still without a road map for the return of the displaced.”
He stressed that “in the absence of an action plan, Lebanon will be forced to act in accordance with the dictates of the supreme national interest.”
He pointed out that “Lebanon is collapsing financially and economically, and we are unable to secure the basic needs of the Lebanese, and the government sees the need for the return of the displaced and its financing from the international community, instead of financing their stay in Lebanon.”
He pointed out that the meeting carried “confirmation of the implementation of the Taif Agreement, passing through the Doha Agreement, to the Kuwaiti initiative and the Arab agreement.”
And he added: “There was cooperation with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, and we felt positive from the Arab brothers for Lebanon’s return to its health. The discussions that took place during the meeting led to more rapprochement on several Arab and international points.”
As for the Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, he said, “The research dealt with preparations for the Arab summit that will be held in Algeria and the catastrophic situation of famine in Somalia in light of the difficult climatic conditions and Arab food security. Palestinian”.
Ambassador Zaki affirmed: “The meeting’s support and solidarity with Lebanon, but no subsidiary or partial issues were raised.”
