An archive photo from Sep. 15, 2021 shows President Michel Aoun meeting with PM Najib Mikti. (Credit: Dalati & Nohra)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Monday with President Michel Aoun at the Baabda Presidential Palace and briefed him on the phone call he held with French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Saturday.
Here is what we know:
• According to a statement by the president’s press office, Mikati explained the "different points" raised during his call over the weekend. The two men also discussed ministerial committees’ work to achieve reforms, although the government has not met for nearly two months due to a political row over the Beirut port blast.
• On Saturday, Macron and the de-facto Saudi ruler agreed on an initiative to support Lebanon, which includes creating a Franco-Saudi humanitarian support mechanism. A joint French-Saudi statement did not go into details on the proposed mechanism or whether Riyadh would lift its ban on Lebanese imports.
• The French president traveled to Jeddah for the meeting a day after Information Minister George Kurdahi resigned from Lebanon's cabinet. The Kingdom had severed all diplomatic relations with Lebanon at the end of October following statements by Kurdahi on the war in Yemen. Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE all followed suit in recalling their envoys from Beirut.