(20 May 2024)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut – 20 May 2024
1. Various of Lebanese flag flying at half-staff at Lebanon’s government palace
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdallah Bouhabib, Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister:
“Well, I was sorry to hear about the incident in Iran, and we lost the president of the country and the foreign minister. I met the foreign minister many, many times since I came to this office, and we became kind of friends. We exchanged freely information and it really became that we had to consult with each other all the time. So I feel great loss with his death. I’ve been sad since I heard the news yesterday. Thank you."
3. Mid of sign for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
STORYLINE:
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bouhabib, expressed his condolences on Monday for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Iranian state media said Raisi and Amirabdollahian, and others, were found dead after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest.
“I met the foreign minister many, many times since I came to this office, and we became kind of friends,” Bouhabib said, adding that he and Amirabdollahian “exchanged freely information” and regularly consulted with one another.
“I feel great loss with his death. I’ve been sad since I heard the news yesterday," he added.
The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, during which Raisi, who was 63, under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel just last month.
Khamenei announced on Monday that Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would serve as the country’s acting president until elections are held.
AP Video: Fadi Tawil
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