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Gulf

Saudi-French Meeting in Paris Focuses on Lebanon’s Presidential Vacuum

The seat of the President of the Republic in Lebanon, which has become vacant since the end of President Michel Aoun's term at the end of last October (Reuters)
The seat of the President of the Republic in Lebanon, which has become vacant since the end of President Michel Aoun's term at the end of last October (Reuters)
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Saudi-French Meeting in Paris Focuses on Lebanon’s Presidential Vacuum

The seat of the President of the Republic in Lebanon, which has become vacant since the end of President Michel Aoun's term at the end of last October (Reuters)
The seat of the President of the Republic in Lebanon, which has become vacant since the end of President Michel Aoun's term at the end of last October (Reuters)

Discussions during Saudi royal envoy Nizar Al-Aloula’s recent meeting with French President Advisor Patrick Durrell in Paris centered on Lebanon. The counterparts’ meeting, hosted at the Élysée Palace, follows an official visit by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Paris earlier this week.

Prince Faisal met with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna to chiefly talk over the Saudi-Iranian agreement sponsored by China.

While the two top diplomats examined the deal, which stipulates restoring diplomatic relations between the Kingdom and Iran within two months, they also touched on the presidential vacuum in Lebanon.

Al-Aloula represented Saudi Arabia last month at a five-way meeting about Lebanon hosted by Paris. The panel included representatives from the US, Egypt, and Qatar, in addition to Al-Aloula and Durrell.

At the meeting, they agreed on each communicating with Lebanese bodies they enjoy the best ties with to try to end the presidential vacuum in the Mediterranean nation.

Sources observing developments in the region and their impact on Lebanon believe that the recent Saudi-Iran deal could bring about change needed to break the political stalemate preventing the election of a president.

Lebanon has been ailing from a presidential and institutional vacuum since last October. Moreover, the country is suffering from an economic and financial meltdown that keeps getting worse.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that the French mobilization to end Lebanon’s crisis, what some call the “French initiative,” is based on proposing an “integrated basket” that includes a president, a prime minister, and a commitment to a reform program capable of putting an end to economic collapse.

Paris believes that the way out of the impasse is to accept the candidacy of former minister and lawmaker Suleiman Frangieh for president in exchange for naming Nawaf Salam as prime minister.

Salam is a championed reformist and enjoys good Arab and international relations.

Saudi Arabia’s official stance is that Riyadh would not intervene by backing any candidate for any position. For the Kingdom, the matter concerns the Lebanese alone.

Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia has expressed concern regarding the “characteristics” of any elected candidate, what policies they intend to pursue, and whether they incorporate the reforms needed for Lebanon to bounce back. The reforms mentioned by the Kingdom include the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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Gulf

GCC Commits to Peace and Good Neighborliness, Says Security of Gulf States Is ‘Indivisible’

Heads of delegations are seen at the 167th Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Manama on Wednesday. (GCC)
Heads of delegations are seen at the 167th Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Manama on Wednesday. (GCC)
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GCC Commits to Peace and Good Neighborliness, Says Security of Gulf States Is ‘Indivisible’

Heads of delegations are seen at the 167th Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Manama on Wednesday. (GCC)
Heads of delegations are seen at the 167th Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Manama on Wednesday. (GCC)

The 167th Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned on Wednesday the latest Iranian attacks against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan as “flagrant violations against their sovereignty and security of their people.”

Meeting in Manama, the council slammed the attacks as violations of international law, United Nations Charter and values of good neighborliness.

“These hostile acts do not serve any understanding or rapprochement, but rather distance peoples from one another, undermine the foundations of trust, sow discord and close the doors of dialogue to which the GCC states have always called for,” it said in a statement.

“Aggression does not build relations, and intimidation does not create stability,” it stressed, while expressing its full solidarity with Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

“The security of the GCC states is indivisible, and that any attack against one of them is an attack against them all,” it went on to say.

The council reassured the citizens of its states and residents on their territories that the joint defense capabilities and air defense systems are confronting these attacks with high efficiency and readiness, and that the leaderships of the GCC states are moving forward in safeguarding the security and stability of the region.

“These attacks will only increase the cohesion, determination and resolve of the peoples of the GCC states to resist and confront them,” continued the statement.

Moreover, it underscored the right of GCC states to defend themselves “individually and collectively, and to respond to this aggression by all legitimate means, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, which guarantees the inherent right of states to defend themselves if an armed attack occurs against them.”

“The council holds Iran fully responsible for these acts and their grave repercussions on the security of the region, international navigation and energy supplies, and demands their immediate cessation and a complete end to any targeting of the GCC states, their interests and their citizens,” urged the statement.

The council called upon the Security Council and the international community to assume their responsibilities in condemning this aggression and holding its perpetrators accountable, in a manner that ensures respect for the sovereignty of states and the preservation of regional and international peace and security.

The council, while renewing the GCC states’ commitment to the option of peace, good neighborliness and diplomatic solutions as a means of settling disputes, posed “a fundamental question to the aggressor: How can future relations be built amid the continuation of these attacks and the insistence on pursuing them?”

“Persistence in the path of aggression will only lead to further isolation, while the door to understanding remains open to those who choose the language of wisdom and good neighborliness,” it added.

Gulf

Saudi Foreign Ministry: Saudi Arabia Condemns Blatant Iranian Attacks Against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan

Saudi Foreign Ministry: Saudi Arabia Condemns Blatant Iranian Attacks Against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan
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Saudi Foreign Ministry: Saudi Arabia Condemns Blatant Iranian Attacks Against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan

Saudi Foreign Ministry: Saudi Arabia Condemns Blatant Iranian Attacks Against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Iranian attacks and flagrant violations of the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, considering them a threat to the security and safety of their territories and airspace.

In a statement, the ministry said: “The Kingdom affirms that the continuation of these attacks threatens regional and international security and undermines efforts aimed at de-escalation and the restoration of security and stability in the region.”

The Kingdom also reiterated its full solidarity with Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, and its support for all measures taken by these nations to safeguard their sovereignty, security, stability, and the safety of their citizens and residents.

Gulf

Saudi Foreign Minister Arrives in Bahrain for GCC Ministerial Meeting

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives in Manama - SPA
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives in Manama - SPA
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Saudi Foreign Minister Arrives in Bahrain for GCC Ministerial Meeting

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives in Manama - SPA
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrives in Manama - SPA

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah arrived in Manama on Wednesday to participate in the 167th meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministerial Council, chaired by Bahrain’s minister of foreign affairs, in his capacity as the current session chair, and attended by foreign ministers of the GCC member states.

He was welcomed at Manama International Airport by Bahraini Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and GCC Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi.