Category: Key Issues

ABU DHABI: President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of congratulations to Bassirou Diomaye Faye on winning the presidential elections in the Republic of Senegal.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of

the Presidential Court, sent similar messages to President Faye.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ROME: H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, has met with Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic, as part of his Woking visit to Rome.

The two top diplomats discussed the friendship relations between the two countries and the potential for developing cooperation in consolidation of their strategic partnership in several fields, including the economic, commercial, investment, developmental, and energy sectors.

H.H. Sheikh Abdullah stressed the depth of relations between the two countries and their growth and development prospects, noting that the United Arab Emirates and the friendly Italian Republic share a common desire and will to strengthen their partnership and invest in all available resources to push the paths of cooperation towards broader horizons that support their plans to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development.

They also discussed the current developments in the region and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, stressing
on the importance of the recent UN Security Council Resolution No. 2728, which calls for a ceasefire and an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the UAE’s keenness to work with Italy and all friendly countries to end extremism, tension, and violence in the region. He pointed to the importance of concerted international efforts to protect the security and safety of all civilians and provide adequate humanitarian support to the Palestinian people to alleviate their suffering.

The meeting was attended by Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs, and Abdulla Ali Al Saboosi, the UAE Ambassador to the Italian Republic.

Source: Emirates News Agency

GENEVA: Hundreds of parliamentarians from over 140 countries, gathered at the 148th IPU Assembly from 23-27 March 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland, have reconfirmed their commitment to parliamentary diplomacy to support peace efforts, and to reinvigorate multilateralism through parliamentary action.

Dr. Sedra. Rashid Al Mansouri, member of the Parliamentary Division Group of the Federal National Council (FNC) in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), participated in the meeting of the Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs, which took place during the 148th Assembly of the IPU the 213th session of the IPU Governing Council held in Geneva, Switzerland.

In their final declaration, Parliamentary diplomacy: Building bridges for peace and understanding, the lawmakers recognise the importance of ‘inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation, and the IPU’s unique role as the parliamentary counterpart to the United Nations’.

The declaration emphasises that parliamentarians have an active role to play in accompanyin
g and complementing traditional diplomacy, ‘ensuring that efforts to negotiate peace processes, treaties and other international agreements are rooted in the needs of the people’.

At the Assembly, the IPU leadership issued an urgent political statement on behalf of the global parliamentary community calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, to complement the United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire, adopted on 25 March 2024.

The IPU Assembly was one of the most well-attended on record with over 700 MPs in Geneva, including over 50 Speakers of Parliament. Around 36% of the MPs were women and some 27% were young MPs under 45.

Source: Emirates News Agency

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdellatif Derian met on Wednesday in Dar-al-Fatwa with MP Ghassan Skaff.

Following the talks, teh lawmaker told reporters that he submitted a new presidential initiative to the Mufti. He added that his plan aims at bridging the gap among the Lebanese components. He explained that his initiative is based on five rules, under which “no party is asked to abandon their candidate; the president does not belong to the Christian majority nor can he be elected without it; the president does not belong to the Shia duo nor can he be elected without it; the president cannot be elected without the participation of the Sunnis, the Druze, and the independent; the president cannot be imposed by the Quintet nor can he be elected without it.”

Separately, Mufti Derian met with the State Prosecutor of Cassation, Judge Jamal Hajjar. The pair discussed an array of judicial affairs.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday received an invitation from the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to partake in the 33rd summit of the Arab League, to be held in Bahrain on May 16.

The invitation was extended to Mikati by the envoy of the King of Bahrain, Ambassador to Syria Waheed Mubarak Sayyar.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon