DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will continue supporting Lebanon and is optimistic about the country’s future after a ceasefire brought an end to a war between Israel and the militant Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, the kingdom’s foreign minister said from Beirut.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud told reporters he stressed the importance of reforms in his meeting with Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun, in the first trip to Beirut by Riyadh’s top diplomat in 15 years.
“I expressed to him that we believe in the importance of the reforms he presented so that Lebanon can overcome its crises,” Prince Faisal said.
The visit reflects seismic political shifts in Lebanon since Israel pummelled Hezbollah in last year’s war, and since Hezbollah’s Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebels in December.
“The kingdom is looking at Lebanon’s future with optimism under the reformist approach that came in the president’s speech after his inauguration.”
“These reforms will boost the confidence of Lebanon’s partners and open space for the country to regain its rightful place in the Arab and international spheres,” he added.
Aoun said he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, comments that were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah’s arsenal, as well as establishing better relations with Arab countries.
Saudi Arabia once spent billions in Lebanon, depositing funds in the central bank, helping to rebuild the south after a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Alex Richardson, William Maclean)
