Saudi Ambassador to Beirut Walid Bukhari hailed Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai’s Sunday sermon which focused on the importance of abiding to Lebanon's dissociation policy.
The diplomat made his stance during a visit on Tuesday to the Patriarch at his summer residence in Diman, where they discussed the general situation and relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Bukhari said the Patriarch's remarks restored the Arab and international communities' faith in Lebanon.
He also highlighted Saudi Arabia's willingness to support Lebanon.
The Saudi Ambassador discussed with the Patriarch the social and humanitarian aid offered by “King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.”
Bukhari confirmed that this aid would continue with an aim to reduce the burden of the economic crisis on Lebanese citizens from all sects.
On Sunday, al-Rai accused politicians of thinking only of their own vested interests and urged the president to “break the siege against the legitimacy” and declare Lebanon’s neutrality.
After his meeting with the Saudi Ambassador, the Patriarch received a delegation from the "Strong Republic" parliamentary bloc, which informed him of the support of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to his stance.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, MP Shawki Daccache said Lebanon cannot overcome its economic, political and social crises unless it adopts a “dissociation policy.”
“The Lebanese Forces similar to the Patriarch urges the president to break the siege against the legitimacy and announce Lebanon’s neutrality,” he said.
Daccache indicated that the delegation presented the Patriarch with an invitation to chair the mass service commemorating the Lebanese Forces' martyrs.
For his part, MP Marwan Hamade said at the Parliament Tuesday that Rai’s statements became a roadmap for the salvation of Lebanon.
“The Patriarch’s calls became clearer and more detailed,” Hamade said, indicating that Rai’s statements propose a roadmap for the salvation of Lebanon in its final borders, its historic value, its pluralism, its freedom of expression, its Arabism and its relations with the Arab and international communities, its constitutional institutions, and its absolute neutrality.
