Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Beirut, Walid Bukhari, speaks with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikatii on Thursday at the Grand Serail. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari on Thursday at the Grand Serail, the state-run National News Agency reported. No statement was issued following the meeting.
Here’s what we know:
• Thursday marked the second meeting between Mikati and Bukhari after the latter’s return to Beirut on April 8, marking the end of a diplomatic crisis between Lebanon and the Gulf monarchies which had begun in October 2021 sparked by then-Information Minister Georges Kurdahi’s controversial statements on Saudi intervention in Yemen and Hezbollah’s influence on domestic politics.
• Bukhari had united pro-Saudi officials at an iftar after his return to Beirut following French mediation and the “Kuwaiti Initiative,” a roadmap proposed in January aiming to restore ties between Lebanon and Gulf countries. The initiative includes requests for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
• For his part, Qatar’s ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel Aziz al-Sahlaoui, met with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, Lebanon’s highest Sunni authority, at Dar al-Fatwa. On Wednesday, Sahlaoui met with Mikati but no statement was issued from their meeting either.
• Both the Saudi and Qatari diplomats also met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri after their return.