Kuwait minister presents suggestions to Lebanon on rebuilding trust

BEIRUT — Kuwait made suggestions to Lebanese President Michel Aoun on how he might rebuild confidence with the Gulf states, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammad Al-Sabah said Sunday in a televised press conference in Beirut.

Here's what we know: 

    • "I bring a Kuwaiti, Gulf, Arab and international message as proposed measures and ideas to build confidence again with Lebanon, and they are now in the process of studying it, and God willing, the response will come to us soon, and Lebanon is an arena of hope for all," Al-Sabah said, following a meeting with Aoun, according to the state-run National News Agency. 

    • The minister's visit to Beirut is the first by a senior Gulf Arab official since a diplomatic rift with Lebanon last year. 

    • Later Sunday, Aoun said in a tweet that Lebanon is keen to maintain "the best relations" with the Gulf Arab states.

    • Aoun also said the proposal by the Kuwaiti foreign minister on building confidence with the Gulf states would be discussed before an appropriate position was announced. 

    • Later Sunday, Reuters cited diplomatic sources as saying the proposals presented by Kuwait's foreign minister to Lebanon to end the diplomatic rift with Gulf states focused on implementation of UN Security Council resolutions and holding elections on time. They also, according to the sources, included remaining committed to the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended Lebanon's Civil War, tightening controls on exports to the Gulf to prevent drug smuggling and cooperation between Lebanese and Gulf security services.

    • On Saturday, Al-Sabah met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati as he kicked-off a two-day visit to Lebanon. Mikati welcomed the Kuwaiti foreign minister’s visit, saying it “expresses close brotherly feelings and a long history of understanding and trust between Lebanon and Kuwait,” the premier’s media office said.