KSA optimistic about Lebanon

Saudi FM expresses confidence in Lebanon's new leaders, urges reforms for stability and unity.

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BEIRUT:

Saudi Arabia's top diplomat, on his country's first high-level visit to Beirut after years of strained ties, said Thursday that he believed crisis-hit Lebanon's new leaders could spearhead long-sought reforms.

"We are greatly confident in the ability of... the president and the prime minister to initiate reforms necessary to bolster Lebanon's security, stability and unity," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after meeting President Joseph Aoun in Beirut.

During the meeting, Aoun thanked Saudi Arabia "for the efforts deployed to help Lebanon, especially by bringing an end to the presidential vacuum", an official statement said.

Aoun also said the visit had "brought hope".

Prior to his visit, Prince Faisal called Aoun's election "extremely positive", but said the kingdom was waiting for concrete change before engaging further with Beirut.

"We will need to see real action. We will need to see real reform. We will need to see a commitment to a Lebanon that is looking to the future, not to the past, in order for us to raise our engagement," he said.

His visit aims to "inform the kingdom's approach", he said.

In 2021, many Gulf states including Saudi Arabia had recalled diplomats from Beirut over a Lebanese minister's criticism of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.

Riyadh had also suspended fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon in April that year, saying shipments were being used for drug smuggling and accusing Beirut of inaction.