BOU HABIB HOLDS TALKS WITH RUSSIAN, IRANIAN FMS IN NEW YORK

Caretaker Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, pursued his meetings in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council's open debate on the situation in the Middle East. Bou Habib held bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov over the situation in south Lebanon and the means to de-escalate tensions. The pair also discussed the Lebanese-Russian ties and the means to develop them, especially in the economic field. Bou Habib also met with his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri Kani over the latest developments in the region. Both agreed over the necessity of exerting all possible efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and in south Lebanon. Bou Habib later held talks with UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, to whom he stressed the necessity of the full implementation of UN Resolution 1701. He also warned that "any war on Lebanon will wreak havoc not only in Lebanon, but in the entire region." Bou Habib also met with the President of the Internat ional Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric Egger. They discussed Israel's violations of the international human law, and the Syrian displacement issue. At the open debate on the situation in the Middle East held at the UNSC, Bou Habib delivered Lebanon's word, in which he called for the full implementation of Resolution 1701. He also reminded of the proposal Lebanon has submitted earlier this year to establish durable calm along its southern border. "Peace will not be achieved in our region before the establishment of the promised Palestinian state," he said. Source: National news agency - Lebanon