“We have excellent relations with Iraq. Iraq is helping Lebanon a lot - more than anybody else or as much as anybody else. Iraqis come to Lebanon, they love Lebanon. This is their second country, and during July and June every month we have around 30,000 Iraqis entering Iraq,” Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, old Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York City.
“This is for the summer of course. This is excellent for us and good for the Iraqis. We will always be good brothers and we will remain good brothers,” he added.
Lebanon in 2022 removed the visa requirement for Iraqis willing to visit the country.
Iraqi nationals were previously required to obtain a visa-on-arrival. They have also been removed from an article requiring them to possess two thousand US dollars in cash or cheque as a prerequisite for entering Lebanese territory.
Lebanon in February last year returned more than 300 ancient cuneiform tablets to Iraq from a private Lebanese museum as Baghdad continues its quest to return ancient artefacts looted during troubled times back to their ancestral homeland.
The minister also talked about his country’s domestic problems.
“We know that we have political problems and we cannot solve the economic problem before we solve the political problems. This is an internal issue but we are being helped and being supported by friends in Arab regions and around the world,” he said, hoping that Lebanon will have a president soon.
The high-level week of the 78th annual UNGA commenced on Tuesday and will continue through next week. Hundreds of world leaders and delegates have gathered in New York to attend the event, with around 150 heads of states and governments set to deliver speeches.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.”
