  Turkey, Qatar quit Lebanon talksJanuary 20, 2011 - 15:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Ministers from Turkey and Qatar have suspended efforts to mediate Lebanon's political crisis after two days of intensive talks with rival parties that failed to clinch a breakthrough. Their departure from Lebanon comes one day after Saudi Arabia also decided to pull out as a mediator from the talks. Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Foreign Minister, and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber al-Thani, said in a statement released overnight that they were leaving Lebanon after a working draft to break the impasse between Saad Hariri, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, and Hezbollah was met with "reservations". “Our efforts resulted in a working draft that takes into account political and legal demands to resolve the current crisis in Lebanon based on the Syrian-Saudi initiative. But given certain reservations, [we] decided to suspend efforts in Lebanon for the time being and to leave Beirut in order to consult with [our] leadership," the statement said, Al Jazeera reported. The Syrian-Saudi initiative reportedly calls for Lebanon to disavow a UN tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former prime minister, against guarantees from Hezbollah concerning its weapons arsenal. The initiative also calls for guarantees concerning the functioning of state institutions.   Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.   Partner news |  Latest news Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia.Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements.Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of ArmeniaHenrikh Mkhitaryan wins Serie A title with Inter Inter Milan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits that the team have long been imagining clinching Serie A against AC Milan. |
