{"id":29166,"date":"2019-01-14T23:24:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T23:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=29166"},"modified":"2019-01-14T23:24:18","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T23:24:18","slug":"libya-to-boycott-arab-summit-in-beirut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=29166","title":{"rendered":"Libya to boycott Arab summit in Beirut"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT:\u00a0Libya\u2019s Government of National Accord (GNA) has said it will boycott this Sunday\u2019s Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Beirut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe boycott is in response to \u201cnegative acts carried out by the host country, Lebanon,\u201d said Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj.<\/p>\n

\nThe GNA \u201cdecided to boycott the summit after it was revealed that the host country did not provide the appropriate climate in accordance with the obligations, customs and traditions of such summits,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\nSupporters of the Lebanese Amal Movement tore down the Libyan flag from between the other flags raised on poles on the road to the airport to welcome the delegations participating in the summit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThey replaced it with the Amal flag to protest the kidnapping in Libya of Imam Musa Al-Sadr, a Lebanese-Iranian philosopher and Shiite religious leader, and two companions in 1987.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nPhotos of Amal members tearing down and replacing the Libyan flag went viral on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThis prompted Libyan protesters to remove the sign of the Lebanese Embassy in the Libyan capital and raise their country\u2019s flag at the embassy\u2019s main iron gate, said Lebanon\u2019s ambassador to Libya, Mohammad Sukaina.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLebanon is convinced that what happened in Beirut and Tripoli is neither directed against the people of Libya nor against the Lebanese people,\u201d he told the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA).<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe believe that the right, fair, and perhaps the only approach to establishing a good relationship between the Lebanese and Libyan people is that the competent authorities in Libya help free Imam Musa Al-Sadr and his companions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nLebanon\u2019s caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil sent a letter to his Libyan counterpart Mohamed Siala, expressing his regret that Libya will not participate in the summit.<\/p>\n

\nBassil also expressed his rejection of \u201cthe actions taken in Lebanon against Libya and its participation in the Beirut summit,\u201d saying they do not reflect his position or his country\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, a debate in Lebanon over inviting Syria was settled by the supreme committee organizing the summit, which said: \u201cSyria\u2019s invitation is related to the decision of the Council of the Arab League and is not a Lebanese decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIn the halls of the summit\u2019s venue, the flags of all Arab League member states were raised, including those of Syria and Libya, on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe countdown to the summit has started,\u201d said the summit\u2019s media spokesman Rafic Chlala.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe reconstruction of Syria is not on the summit\u2019s agenda, but at the meeting of Arab leaders there may be decisions in this regard,\u201d he added. \u201cSo far, this topic will not be discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe head of the committee, Antoine Choucair, said 24 items are on the agenda, and Lebanon wants to hold the event under the title \u201cProsperity for Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe added that Lebanese President Michel Aoun is considering an initiative inspired by the title, and will launch it during the summit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe commander of the Lebanese Republican Guard, Brig. Gen. Salim Feghali, said it will be in charge of the summit\u2019s security in cooperation with the rest of the security services.<\/p>\n

\nHe added that \u201c500 officers and 7,000 soldiers will participate in securing the summit\u2019s location as well as the road to the airport and the delegations\u2019 accommodations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nFeghali told Arab News: \u201cThe security forces will address the protests scheduled for Sunday\u2026 in a manner that ensures the safety of the summit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nBrig. Gen. Joseph Al-Nahhas said: \u201cThe secure area will be closed starting Thursday midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe added: \u201cThe supreme committee has proposed to the caretaker prime minister, Saad Hariri, to make Friday a day off.\u201d Al-Nahhas said Hariri had no objection to the proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, the Civil Society Organizations Forum, hosted by the UN headquarters in Beirut, produced recommendations that will be submitted to the summit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe forum\u2019s organizers said the recommendations aim to \u201cstrengthen cooperation between governments and civil society, and provide an independent platform for civil society to allow experts to participate in and contribute to the development process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nManal Warde, Oxfam\u2019s policy and campaigns manager for the Middle East and North Africa, said the forum aimed to influence the summit at a time when many Arab countries face public demands for democracy and economic reforms.<\/p>\n

\nThe UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) said it expects the summit to \u201cprovide an opportunity to develop mechanisms for achieving the (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT:\u00a0Libya\u2019s Government of National Accord (GNA) has said it will boycott this Sunday\u2019s Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Beirut.\u00a0 The boycott is in response to \u201cnegative acts carried out by the host country, Lebanon,\u201d said Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj. The GNA \u201cdecided to boycott the summit after it was revealed that the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":29167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}