WASHINGTON: Vice President Kamala Harris plans to close out her term with an around-the-world trip making stops in Singapore, Bahrain and Germany, her office said.
The trip, which is scheduled to last from Jan. 13 to Jan. 17, will be a final opportunity for Harris to address US foreign policy challenges before Donald Trump takes office. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is expected to join the vice president.
Although she has not disclosed her next steps after losing the presidential election, the expansive travel suggests that Harris might want to continue playing a role on the global stage. There’s also speculation that Harris could run for governor of her home state of California.
Dean Lieberman, Harris’ deputy national security adviser, said in a written statement that “the vice president felt it important to spend some of her final days in office thanking and engaging directly with US servicemembers deployed overseas, which as she has said, has been one of her greatest privileges as vice president.”
There are US troops based at all three of Harris’ stops.
Harris plans to visit Changi Naval Base in Singapore and meet with leaders of the city-state. Singapore’s location in the Indo-Pacific region makes it a key partner for addressing issues involving China, including freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
The next stop is Bahrain, where Harris will visit the headquarters of the US 5th Fleet. The fleet has been engaged in efforts to protect Israel from Iranian attacks and regional shipping activity from the Houthis in Yemen.
Harris’ final stop will be Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, home to a deployment of US Air Force fighter jets. She plans to talk about the importance of NATO in deterring Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.
Harris has previously visited Germany and Singapore. Bahrain will be the 22nd country she’s visited during her term.
“The vice president continues to believe in a strong US global leadership role because it benefits the security and prosperity of the American people, and she will reaffirm this throughout her trip,” Lieberman said.
Harris will travel to Asia, Mideast and Europe during her final week in office
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Harris will travel to Asia, Mideast and Europe during her final week in office
- Harris plans to visit Changi Naval Base in Singapore and meet with leaders of the city-state
- The next stop is Bahrain, where Harris will visit the headquarters of the US 5th Fleet
Ambassadors, military attaches visit border villages, are briefed on weapons centralization south of Litani River
- Aoun: Contacts ongoing at home and abroad to consolidate security in southern Lebanon
BEIRUT: A delegation of Arab and foreign ambassadors and military attaches toured areas south of the Litani River on Monday, accompanied by Lebanese Army Chief Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, for a briefing on the progress in implementing the plan to confine weapons to the state.
According to a military source, the visit aimed to “review the tasks being carried out by the Lebanese Army to implement the Homeland Shield Plan mandated by the Council of Ministers.”
The first phase of the plan is scheduled to conclude by the end of this month, after which the army will move to the next stage: centralizing all weapons north of the Litani line.
Diplomats are expected to convey their field observations to their respective governments on the eve of a US–Saudi–French meeting with the army commander on Dec. 17 and 18 in Paris, where they will also discuss supporting the Lebanese Army, the weapons centralization plan, and the progress achieved.
The commander of the southern Litani sector, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Thabet, briefed the diplomatic delegation on the operations being carried out by the army during a meeting held at the Benoit Barakat Barracks in Tyre, which was joined by the army commander and senior officers. The delegation then moved on to inspect the western sector.
Haykal stressed “the importance of supporting the army and the commitment of all parties to the ceasefire agreement and respect for Lebanese territorial sovereignty.”
While Thabet presented an operational overview to the ambassadors, diplomats focused on evaluating the first phase of the weapons centralization plan, the mechanisms for transitioning to the second phase, and the obstacles facing the army.
The diplomats inspected several army positions deployed along the forward edge, including the town of Aita Al-Shaab and the Wadi Zibqin area, where a Hezbollah facility had previously been located.
A week earlier, Thabet had disclosed that “during the execution of its mission south of the Litani, the army has dealt with 177 tunnels since the launch of the Homeland Shield Plan, closed 11 crossings along the Litani River, and seized 566 rocket launchers.”
Monday’s tour coincided with a meeting on the other side of the border between US Envoy Thomas Barrack and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, focused on de-escalating tensions with Lebanon and Syria.
On Monday, Israel continued through its media to promote the prospect of an imminent Israeli military escalation against Hezbollah unless it is disarmed by the end of the year.
According to the Lebanese Army, “the recent Israeli strikes targeted civilian homes. The army inspected them after they were hit and found no evidence that they contained any weapons.”
Army command further clarified that “after the Israeli enemy threatened two days ago to bomb homes, the Lebanese Army conveyed a message to the relevant mechanism expressing its readiness to inspect the houses before any strike to determine whether they contained weapons or ammunition.”
However, Israeli forces allegedly rejected the proposal and went ahead with air raids on the homes, destroying them.
For his part, President Joseph Aoun said on Monday before visitors that “contacts are ongoing domestically and internationally to consolidate security and stability in the south through negotiations via the mechanism committee, which will hold a meeting next Friday.”
He added that the mechanism’s work “enjoys Lebanese, Arab, and international support, particularly following the appointment of former Ambassador Simon Karam as head of the Lebanese delegation.”
Aoun noted that “the choice of negotiation is the alternative to war, which would yield no results but would cause further harm and destruction to Lebanon and the Lebanese without exception.”
