French President Emmanuel Macron is received by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Saturday. (Credit: Thomas Samson/AFP)
BEIRUT — French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday following a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman that his country and Saudi Arabia are committed to working together to enable Lebanon to emerge from its compounding crises.
Here is what we know:
• In a series of tweets, the French leader wrote that he held “frank and useful” discussions with the de-facto Saudi ruler on regional security and stability, with particular focus on Lebanon. Macron added that he and Mohammad bin Salman held a phone call with PM Najib Mikati.
• Macron wrote that his country and Saudi Arabia made commitments to “work together” to support reforms in Lebanon and “enable the country to emerge from its crisis and preserve its sovereignty.”
• The French president told reporters following his meeting with the Saudi crown prince that he hopes Lebanon’s cabinet would “meet as soon as possible and carry out useful reforms,” according to AFP. Macron also told reporters he would call President Michel Aoun on Sunday, the news agency added.
• Lebanon’s cabinet has not met since Oct. 12 due to political differences over Judge Tarek Bitar’s probe into the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion. Hezbollah and Amal have insisted Bitar be moved off the case before the government can resume its work.
• Macron’s visit to Jeddah on Saturday comes a day after Lebanese Information Minister George Kurdahi resigned from the cabinet in a bid to facilitate rapprochement between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
• Kurdahi said Thursday that he understood his resignation came at the behest of Macron, adding that Mikati “has received French guarantees concerning the resumption of bilateral relations” between Beirut and Riyadh.
• In late October, Saudi Arabia announced it was recalling its ambassador from Beirut and banning all imports from Lebanon. Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE also recalled their envoys, after the broadcast of an interview with Kurdahi in which the now-resigned minister criticized the Saudi war effort in Yemen.
• Saudi officials have said that their problems with Lebanon go beyond Kurdahi’s comments, to include their foe, Hezbollah’s, political strength in the country.