A French source familiar with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed that Saudi Arabia still maintains its position not to support Lebanon as long as Hezbollah controls it.
Informed sources indicated that Mohammed bin Salman refused mediation by French President Emmanuel Macron to support Lebanon and save it from its crisis.
According to the source, bin Salman made it clear to the French president during their call that Saudi Arabia’s problem with Lebanon is not in the Prime Time Zone or the government, but rather in the Lebanese policies followed, especially foreign policy and the continuous performance and coverage of Hezbollah’s practices in the Arab region.
In their call, bin Salman stressed to Macron that the most obvious Saudi problem with Lebanon is Hezbollah, and its ability to impose its foreign policy on the official government.
Therefore, no Saudi official can agree to go along with the French and provide support to Lebanon, while Hezbollah continues to confront Saudi Arabia in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
Bin Salman made it clear to the French president that the Kingdom is not ready at the present time to receive Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and give him legitimacy to the government, in light of the continuous performance and the approach followed, and that the most it can offer is a meeting with Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, and not with King Salman or the Crown Prince.
Saudi Arabia sees that the insistence of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group on imposing its will in Lebanon was a major reason for the country's crisis, according Saudi foreign ministry statement.
According to the Saudi foreign minister, Riyadh was concerned that no tangible results had been reached in investigations into the Beirut port explosion that devastated swathes of the capital a year ago. He said any assistance to Lebanon would be linked to serious reforms there.
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