The outcome of the consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers held in Sin El Fil, Beirut, this week was discussed in a joint press conference between the Lebanese Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abdallah Bou Habib, and the Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Bou Habib expressed sincere gratitude to the League and the broad Arab participation. He added: “I felt from all the ministers and heads of delegations all devotion and solidarity with Lebanon in its crisis, for everyone is eager for its recovery as soon as possible…and all deemed that participating in this meeting, in itself, is a message of support and standing by Lebanon.”
He further acknowledged the continued support of the Lebanese state and its institutions since the Taif Accord, through the Doha Agreement, up until today.
However, Bou Habib was not shy in emphasizing that this support is largely rhetorical rather than material.
He stated that “the support is moral, because the Arab League cannot provide gas or electricity, but it can urge people to move, as it is a moral process to inform humanity that there is a problem and it must strive to solve it.”
The meeting also detailed the compounding crises across Palestine, Syria, Algeria, and Somalia.
