Saudi envoy urges Lebanon to form govt quickly to end crisis

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun meets with Saudi ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari at the presidential palace in Baabda, yesterday.

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Beirut urged Lebanese politicians yesterday to agree on a new government quickly to pull the country from financial crisis after months of wrangling.A standoff grew heated this week between President Michel Aoun and Saad al-Hariri, who was designated prime minister last October, as the crisis spirals.The currency has lost most of its value, fuelling protests and poverty.Foreign donors have said they will not bail out the state, which is drowning in debt, unless Lebanese politicians tackle graft and waste — the root causes of the collapse.“I stressed the need to put the higher national interest first to launch drastic reforms that can restore the international community’s confidence in Lebanon,” Saudi ambassador Walid Bukhari said after meeting Aoun.In his first public visit to the presidential palace since 2019, he said he came after a request from the Lebanese president.Lebanon saw a flurry of diplomatic meetings yesterday, a day after a public war of words between Aoun and Hariri, a three-time premier traditionally aligned with the Gulf.A group of ex-PMs in Hariri’s camp accused Aoun of trying to bypass the constitution and push Hariri out.The presidency said earlier Aoun met with the French ambassador over “the government crisis”, while Hariri’s office said he met with the Kuwaiti envoy.A French diplomat said last week that France, which has led aid efforts to its former colony, and partners will seek to ramp up pressure on Lebanese politicians in the coming months.After yesterday’s meeting with Aoun, who is a political ally of Hezbollah, the Saudi envoy said the kingdom stood by Lebanon and its sovereignty.Bukhari also reiterated the importance of a UN resolution that called for all militias in Lebanon to disarm.