BEIRUT (AP) — The president of Lebanon concluded a trip to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, where he spoke with the crown prince of the kingdom on regional issues. Both nations then agreed that only the Lebanese state should own weapons and that Israeli troops should leave south Lebanon.
Relationships between the two nations, which have been strained for years due to Iran’s influence in Lebanon, have improved with Joseph Aoun’s visit, the first by a Lebanese head of state to the oil-rich kingdom in eight years.
Many in Lebanon expect that Aoun’s visit as president will pave the way for the easing of a prohibition on imports from Lebanon and the permitting of Saudi nationals to visit Lebanon, as he made multiple trips to Saudi Arabia while serving as army commander.
According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted Aoun at Yamama Palace in the capital, Riyadh, on Monday night. During their meeting, they talked about improving ties between the two nations and the situation in Lebanon.
Aoun’s visit comes after the Iran-backed Hezbollah suffered severe blows during a 14-month war with Israel that left many of its top political and military officials dead and ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in late November. Israel withdrew many of its troops from Lebanon in mid-February but left five posts inside Lebanon, which Lebanese officials have described as a violation of the ceasefire deal.
Following the summit, a joint statement declared that the Lebanese army should be supported and that only state institutions in Lebanon should be allowed to own weapons. Israel should leave all of Lebanon, it further stated.
Riyadh will renew a $3 billion package for the Lebanese army, Aoun said Saudi Arabia’s Asharq News last week. In retribution for the little nation’s support of Iran during the Sunni kingdom’s conflict with the Shiite power, Saudi Arabia declared in 2016 that it was canceling agreements to arm and aid the Lebanese army and police forces.
According to the statement, both parties also decided to research the barriers to Lebanese imports into Saudi Arabia and the steps required to let Saudi nationals to travel to Lebanon once more. They also concurred that Beirut should carry out the reforms that the international community has called for and that the Lebanese economy should emerge from its historic crisis.
According to the report, Crown Prince Mohammed accepted Aoun’s request for the Saudi crown prince to travel to Lebanon.
Following a more than two-year void in the nation’s top position, Aoun was elected in January, and Nawaf Salam, a diplomat and former president of the International Criminal Court, was appointed prime minister. Salam and Aoun have both stated that they will endeavor to enact changes and enhance ties with Arab nations. Hezbollah was considered to have suffered a serious setback with the election of Aoun and Salam.
