Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari. (Credit: NNA/File)
BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, said Tuesday that his country will reconsider its relationship with Lebanon if a "sovereignist" and "moderate" president is elected, in statements made as the country entered a total executive vacancy following the end of Michel Aoun's presidency on Monday, leaving behind a caretaker government.
"Saudi Arabia will not abandon the Lebanese people and we hope that the next deadlines will lead to balanced initiatives characterized by moderation and with a rescue approach in Lebanon," said the Saudi diplomat during a tour in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon's agricultural granary.
"At that time, there will be a review" of the policy of Arabia in Lebanon, he added. He also hoped that these deadlines "will give guarantees to the international community and the [Saudi] Kingdom."
The ambassador was even clearer in statements after a meeting with local and religious dignitaries: "Lebanese-Saudi relations will improve after the formation of a new government and the election of a sovereignist and moderate president who can regain the confidence of Arabia and the countries concerned with the Lebanese file," he said according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa.
Riyad is fiercely opposed to Hezbollah, an ally of Iran with dominant political influence in Lebanon. By "sovereignist" president, the ambassador seems to be referring to a head of state who would be opposed to the influence of Tehran and Hezbollah on Lebanese politics.
Parliament held four failed sessions to elect a new president. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has not yet set a date for the next electoral session.
Regarding the export of Lebanese agricultural products to Saudi Arabia — products that are subject to restrictions by Riyadh, which blames Lebanon for failing to effectively combat drug trafficking into the Wahhabi kingdom — Mr. Bukhari said: "We have talked a lot about it and have set requirements."
He stressed that, in the context of the fight against drugs, "a mechanism has been established and will be discussed soon when a government is formed and the outstanding issues are resolved."
Lebanon and Syria are considered the main producers of Captagon — a psychotropic substance — whose clients are mainly in Saudi Arabia. Lebanese authorities have stepped up efforts to combat drug trafficking from or through Lebanon, a practice regularly singled out by Gulf Arab countries.
In protest against this trafficking, Saudi Arabia announced an embargo on Lebanese agricultural imports in April 2021.
Earlier on Tuesday, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced that more than 5 million Captagon pills were seized by the Internal Security Forces in Ghazieh, South Lebanon. An investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances of this trafficking.
Additional reporting contributed by Sarah Abdallah.