BEIRUT: The Lebanese army said on Saturday it had arrested a prominent Al Qaeda leader in Deir Ammar town, northeast of the city of Tripoli.
It identified the arrested man only as “T.M.” and said in a statement that the arrest took place on Friday.
“T.M. is one of the most prominent leaders of Al Qaeda and the founder of its cells in Lebanon,” it added.

MANAMA: Bahrain will resume full diplomatic relations with Lebanon and ambassadors will soon to be appointed and stationed in the respective capitals, the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Saturday.

The decision came in order to “strengthen the brotherly relations” between the two countries and its peoples and to promote mutual respect, a statement said.

It was also in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the League of Arab States, and the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, it added.

JAKARTA: Indonesia is ready to send hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Makkah for the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage, an official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs told Arab News, with the first batch set to leave for Saudi Arabia next week.
The Hajj quota for the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation returned to its pre-pandemic figures in 2023. Saudi Arabia initially approved the pilgrim quota of 221,000 and later added 8,000 more.

CAIRO: Egypt’s Ministry of Transporthas earmarked around 4 billion Egyptian pounds ($130 million) for new river transport projects, as part of the government’s drive to ease traffic congestion on the country’s roads, reduce transportation costs, and reduce pollution.

A single ship can shift substantial amounts of cargo — equivalent to the load of hundreds of large trucks. Moreover, river transport facilitates connections with other African nations, particularly land-locked countries and those located in the Nile Basin.

CAIRO: Urgent action is needed to safeguard the future of Egypt’s pharmaceutical industry, a specialist has warned.
Ahmed Galal, a leading figure in the industry, told Arab News the pharmaceutical sector faces significant challenges adapting to the global market, as well as “aligning with modern technology to deliver effective medicine at an affordable price.”
His comments came after a parliamentary session on Saturday in which MPs discussed a specialist report outlining a strategy to “future-proof” the pharmaceutical industry.