Al-Okaz, Saudi Arabia, January 11
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who was elected into office only two months ago, made his first state visit this week and chose to begin his tour with a visit to Riyadh. This is an important decision. Relations between the two countries — Saudi Arabia and Lebanon — have reached an all-time low in recent years. The Saudi administration did not like Lebanon’s cooperation with the Iranian and Syrian regimes and decided to freeze all foreign aid programs to Beirut, worth well over $4 billion in total. This was not all. In recent months, tensions between Lebanon and other Gulf countries flared as well. The United Arab Emirates, for example, sentenced several Shiite religious leaders associated with Hezbollah to death, in an attempt to demonstrate its seriousness in fighting the radical Lebanese group. Aoun’s visit this week, therefore, sends an important message to the Arab world. It demonstrates the new Lebanese regime’s seriousness in maintaining close ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf despite existing tensions. In several join press conferences held during the visit, both Prime Minister Aoun and Saudi Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir expressed their willingness to work together in order to advance diplomatic solutions to the situation in Syria. This is an important development. Lebanon has been facing severe internal splits that left it with a two-year political deadlock. Aoun was finally elected as prime minister, thanks to the backing of Hezbollah. Now he needs to prove is loyalty and his commitment to Lebanon’s stability. By choosing to visit Riyadh he is signaling that Lebanon will not become a proxy state serving Teheran’s commands, but rather an independent player in the regional arena. This is a blessed move; one which brings some prospects for optimism in upcoming years. – Mashari al-Zayidi