Lebanon’s president on Tuesday ended a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he discussed regional affairs with the kingdom’s crown prince, after which both countries said Israeli troops should withdraw from south Lebanon and only the Lebanese state should have weapons.
The visit by Joseph Aoun, the first by a Lebanese head of state to the oil-rich kingdom in eight years, improves ties between the two countries that have been cold for years over Iran’s influence in Lebanon.
Aoun visited Saudi Arabia several times when he was army commander, and many in Lebanon hope that his visit as president will open the way for lifting the ban on imports from Lebanon as well as allowing Saudi citizens to travel to the country.
Aoun was received Monday night by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Yamama Palace in the capital, Riyadh, where they discussed the situation in Lebanon and boosting relations between the two countries, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Aoun’s visit comes after the Iran-backed Hezbollah suffered severe blows during a 14-month war, sparked when the terror group began attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, the day after allied Palestinian terror group Hamas led a massive invasion in which it killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The war left many of Hezbollah’s top political and military officials dead and ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in late November, under which Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon while the terror group was to remove its military infrastructure from the area.
Israel withdrew many of its troops from Lebanon in mid-February but left five posts inside the country in areas deemed “strategic” by the military, which Lebanese officials have described as a violation of the ceasefire deal.
A joint statement issued after the summit said that only state institutions in Lebanon should have the right to have arms and that the Lebanese army should be supported. It added that Israel should withdraw from all parts of Lebanon.
Aoun last week told Saudi Arabia’s Asharq News that Riyadh would reactivate a $3 billion package for the Lebanese army. In 2016, Saudi Arabia announced it was halting deals aimed at equipping and supporting the Lebanese Army and police forces in retaliation for the tiny country’s siding with Iran amid the Sunni kingdom’s spat with the Shiite power.
The statement added that both sides agreed to study the obstacles that are facing the resumption of Lebanese imports to Saudi Arabia and measures needed to allow Saudi citizens to visit Lebanon again.
In April 2021, the kingdom suspended fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon, charging that shipments were being used for drug smuggling and accusing Beirut of inaction.
They also agreed that the Lebanese economy should come out of its historic crisis and that Beirut should implement reforms demanded by the international community.
It said Aoun invited the Saudi crown prince to visit Lebanon, adding that Crown Prince Mohammed welcomed the invitation.
Aoun was elected in January after a more than two-year vacuum in the country’s top post, while diplomat and former head of the International Criminal Court Nawaf Salam was named prime minister. Both Aoun and Salam have said they will work on improving relations with Arab countries and implementing reforms. The election of Aoun and Salam was seen as a major blow to Hezbollah.