Arab leaders congratulate US' Biden on election victory

ANKARA

Messages from Arab leaders poured in Saturday congratulating President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their White House victory.

Leaders from Qatar, Lebanon, and Egypt were among those welcoming the victory, as projected by major US media outlets.

The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, congratulated Biden and Harris.

"I look forward to working together to continue strengthening the friendship between our countries." Sheikh Tamim wrote on Twitter.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun also congratulated Biden on his victory.

Aoun expressed hope that during Biden’s term "balance in the Lebanese American relations will return for the good of the friendly Lebanese and American peoples."

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt's president, was among the first Arab leaders to congratulate Biden.

In a statement by presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi, el-Sisi said that he looks forward "for cooperation and joint action to strengthen the strategic bilateral relations between Egypt and the United States for the interest of the two countries and peoples."

Jordan’s King Abdullah II also congratulated the US president-elect.

"I look forward to working with you on further advancing the solid historic partnership between Jordan and the United States, in the interest of our shared objectives of peace, stability and prosperity," Abdullah II tweeted, along with a photo of him and Biden.

Palestinians voice relief

While the Palestinian leadership has yet to comment on Biden’s victory, several Palestinian groups and officials expressed their satisfaction over the departure of President Donald Trump, the architect of such anti-Palestinian moves as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the so-called “deal of the century.”

Nabil Shaath, a Senior Palestinian official, said that "nothing was worse than Trump's era, his departure is a gain."

Hamas group leader Ismail Haniyeh did not comment directly on Biden winning, but did say: "US President Donald Trump, who sought to obliterate Palestine's cause, has gone and Jerusalem will not go."

East Jerusalem is seen as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Biden, 77, was elected the 46th president of the United States, making him the oldest incoming president in US history.