Lebanon welcomes Trump’s move to lift 41 year US flight ban
Lebanon welcomed a move by US President Donald Trump to revoke a decades-long flight ban between the countries. Meanwhile, attacks on the Riyadh international airport in Saudi Arabia earlier this week damaged three aircraft, officials said on Saturday. Also, a drone strike in Sudan killed dozens of people, including children.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said Trump’s decision to revoke flight restrictions between Lebanon and the US that were imposed four decades ago was an indication of US confidence in steps taken by Lebanon to address civil aviation safety.
Direct flights between the US and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 by the Reagan administration following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.
Trump made the surprise announcement that he would allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon during a visit by Aoun to Washington in July. While he ordered the lifting of the restrictions nearly two weeks ago, the decision was publicly announced on Saturday.
The move comes after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group was severely weakened by two wars with Israel over the past two years in which many of the group’s political and military commanders were killed.
Two regional officials said Saturday that attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Riyadh airport on Thursday damaged three planes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.
Three Saudi citizens were killed and several were wounded, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Friday.
