CAIRO: The British ambassador to Lebanon said Wednesday that the behavior of some parties, including that of Hezbollah, undermines peace in Lebanon.
The remarks by Chris Rampling came during his meeting with Mar Bishara Boutros Al-Rai, the Lebanese patriarch of the Maronite Catholic church.
Rampling said he discussed the political solution proposed by Al-Rai for Lebanon, which aims to maintain the country’s characteristics of pluralism, openness, and democracy.
“I discussed with his eminence the neutrality initiative that he launched and its content, which it is clear that some parties, including Hezbollah, did not support, and this undermines the stability of Lebanon.”
The ambassador also described his meeting with the Al-Rai as “very important.”
“We talked about the Beirut bombing, and I expressed my condolences to his eminence and the Lebanese people,” he was quoted by Lebanon’s state news agency as saying.
“We talked about the difficult economic situation, the difficulties that Lebanon and the Lebanese are facing, the necessity for reforms at this delicate stage.”
UK envoy blames Hezbollah behavior for undermining peace in Lebanon
https://arab.news/9nsta
UK envoy blames Hezbollah behavior for undermining peace in Lebanon
Somali president visits city claimed by breakaway region
MOGADISHU: Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Friday visited a provincial capital claimed by the breakaway region of Somaliland -- the first visit there by a sitting president in over 40 years.
The visit to Las Anod, the administrative capital of the Sool region, comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa after Israel officially recognised Somaliland, drawing strong opposition from Mogadishu.
Mohamud was attending the inauguration of the president of the newly created Northeast State, which became Somalia's sixth federal state in August.
It was the first visit by a Somali president since 1984.
Somalia is a federation of semi-autonomous states, some of which have fraught relations with the central government in Mogadishu.
The Northeast State comprises the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all territories Somaliland claims as integral to its borders.
Somaliland had controlled Las Anod since 2007 but was forced to withdraw in 2023 after violent clashes with Somali forces and pro-Mogadishu militias left scores dead.
Mohamud's visit "is a symbol of strengthening the unity and efforts of the federal government to enforce the territorial unity of the Somali country and its people", the Somali president's office said.
