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Ayatollah Sistani-Pope meeting
Iraq's top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, in a meeting with Pope Francis, has emphasized the role of religious leaders in resolving crises facing the humanity. Ayatollah Sistani said many regional countries, including Palestine, are suffering from injustice, war and blockade. He said the religious leaders have to encourage the involved parties to conflicts, particularly the world powers, to prioritize rationality instead of confrontation. He said the leaders have to urge these parties to avoid expansionism and personal interests. Ayatollah Sistani also said Iraq’s Christian citizens should live like all other Iraqis in peace and security. He underlined the importance of concerted efforts to prepare the ground for coexistence between all people based on mutual respect. Ayatollah Sistani met with visiting Pope at his home in the Iraqi city of Najaf.
Lebanon politics
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister has threatened to stop performing his duties to pressure politicians to form a new government. Hassan Diab says if isolation helps with cabinet formation, he will be ready to resort to it. He says this is against his will because it disrupts the entire country and is detrimental to the people. Diab’s cabinet resigned following last year’s August explosion in the capital Beirut that claimed the lives of more than 200 people. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri was nominated in October but he has failed to form a new cabinet due to political deadlock between him and President Michel Aoun.
Taliban-US Deal
Taliban militants say the US special envoy to Afghanistan has met with their representatives in Qatar to revive a bilateral deal. A spokesman to the militant group says Khalilzad and the top US general in Afghanistan met with the Taliban negotiating team late Friday. Both sides expressed their commitment to last year’s agreement in Doha and discussed its full implementation. Earlier this week, Khalilzad had held talks with Afghan leaders in Kabul. This as the Taliban militant group has called on the US and its allies to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan by May the first. The Taliban made the call on the first anniversary of a peace accord sealed with the United States in Qatar. Under that agreement, Washington is to pull out all US-led international forces from Afghanistan in May.
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