Since his return from Riyadh, Mikati seems to be unrelenting

The holiday season is once again smiling on Najib Mikati.Almost a year to the day after obtaining — via French mediation — a brief telephone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the caretaker prime minister was received on Saturday in Riyadh by the kingdom’s strongman — a first for a Lebanese official since Saudi Arabia withdrew from the Lebanese political scene in 2018.This breakthrough was, once again, the fruit of Parisian efforts in a bid to restore relations between the two sides.This positive result for Mikati comes amidst a tug-of-war with Gebran Bassil and Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement which has taken a confessional turn: Aounists have been accusing the premier of encroaching on the prerogatives of the president, a position reserved for Christians. Read more: Mikati from Bkirki: Rai emphasized the...