BEIRUT, Feb 19 (KUNA) -- The challenges facing the Middle East region behoove Arab states to forge a united stand, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Wednesday, citing the plight of the Palestinians as chief among those hardships. Thanking Arab countries for their support after a long-standing presidential vacuum in Beirut was filled, the Lebanese president told a gathering of Arab diplomats, including the Acting Charge d'Affaires of the Kuwaiti embassy in Lebanon Yassin Al-Majed, that the wider Arab region shares common "challenges and concerns." He went on to vow that Beirut would ramp up diplomacy in a bid to support other Arab countries, reiterating that Lebanon would never be used as a "base" to attack friendly nations, while the Arab diplomats underlined their support for Beirut's stability and security, the president's office said in a statement. (end) ayb.nam