Outgoing Prime Minister Nagib Mikati spoke yesterday with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Iraqi counterpart Moustapha el-Kazimi in New York on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly. No statement was reported after the MM meeting. Mikati and Raisi. “Iraq stands alongside Lebanon in the turmoil it is going through and makes all the necessary contacts at the regional and international level to resolve the crisis in all its aspects”, said the Iraqi Prime Minister, quoted by the Grand Serail. The meeting took place in the presence of the outgoing Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. The outgoing Prime Minister also met Farid Belhadj, Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with whom he discussed the recent letter sent to the Secretary General of the Nations Join Antonio Guterres. In this letter, Nagib Mikati called for a “new approach” from the international community on the return of Syrian refugees to their country, pointing out that Lebanon hosts the highest percentage of refugees per capita in the world, while suffering from one of the most serious economic and financial crisis since the mid-19th century. The day before, Mikati had discussed in turn with French President Emmanuel Macron and then with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in particular about the presidential elections in Lebanon and the negotiations on the maritime border with Israel. Emmanuel Macron insisted on the need to organize presidential elections in time “to maintain stability” in Lebanon, according to a press release published by the Mikati press office. The meeting with Antony Blinken took place in the presence of the American envoy Amos Hochstein, mediator in the indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel on their maritime border. Participants in this interview spoke of the “need to organize presidential elections in due time and (…) to implement reforms in support of the Lebanese people”. In a statement after the meeting, the outgoing premier said that “the maritime border demarcation file is making great progress”, without providing further details.
–
Outgoing Prime Minister Nagib Mikati spoke yesterday with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Iraqi counterpart Moustapha el-Kazimi in New York on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly. No statement was reported after the MM meeting. Mikati and Raisi. “Iraq is with Lebanon in …
