The meeting between President Joseph Aoun and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, March 4, before the Cairo summit. Photo taken from the X account of the Presidency of the Republic.
President Joseph Aoun met Tuesday in Cairo with several representatives of Arab countries, as well as the secretary-general of the Arab League and his U.N. counterpart, ahead of an extraordinary Arab summit aimed at proposing a reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip.
Aoun held talks with Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid, Yemeni Presidential Council Chairman Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Reflecting the difficulty of reaching a consensus, the meeting—initially set for Feb. 27 — was postponed until an agreement was found on the plan's details. After meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Monday, Aoun arrived in Cairo on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m., accompanied by Foreign Minister Joe Raggi, to attend the summit.
Aboul Gheit briefed Aoun on discussions held during the preparatory meeting of Arab foreign ministers, the presidency said on X. In his talks with the Yemeni and Iraqi leaders, Aoun discussed "regional and international matters."
The Lebanese president also spoke with the U.N. chief about the situation in southern Lebanon and the continued presence of Israeli forces at certain points on Lebanese territory.
