BEIRUT (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister visits Lebanon on Thursday in the first trip to Beirut by Riyadh’s top diplomat in 15 years, seeking a commitment to reform as the Gulf state reasserts sway in a country where Iranian influence is waning.
The visit by Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud reflects seismic political shifts in Lebanon since Israel pummelled the Iran-backed Hezbollah in last year’s war, and since Hezbollah’s Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebels in December.
Prince Faisal is expected to meet Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun and its Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam. Both took office this month, marking a new phase for a country that has been mired in financial crisis since 2019 and is now facing a reconstruction bill of billions of dollars.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Prince Faisal said Saudi Arabia regarded the election of a Lebanese president after a vacuum of more than two years as extremely positive. He expressed hope that a new Lebanese government would be formed “in the not too distant future”.
“We will need to see real action, we will need to see real reform, we will need to see a commitment to a Lebanon that is looking to the future, not to the past, in order for us to raise our engagement,” he said.
“I plan to be visiting Lebanon this week, and I think, based on what I hear there and what we see, I think that will inform the kingdom’s approach,” he added.
Lebanese officials said he is expected on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia once spent billions in Lebanon, depositing funds in the central bank, helping to rebuild the south after a 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war, and supporting a number of Lebanese politicians, only to see Hezbollah grow more powerful with Iran’s support and its influence spread across the Middle East.
Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief at Annahar newspaper, said Lebanon was once again on the Saudi agenda and that this echoed its interest in neighbouring Syria, where Riyadh is playing a leading role engaging the new government.
But he did not expect the Saudis to provide the kind of unconditional support that once flowed to Lebanon.
“For them to assist Lebanon in a significant way …, they want to wait to see the government that Prime Minister Salam forms. It should be one of real reform that can be trusted with aid,” he said.
Developments over the last few months have driven a rally in Lebanon’s battered international bonds that have been in default since 2020, stirring optimism that a new government could embark on long-delayed reforms.
Lebanon’s political class led the country to economic catastrophe in 2019, when the financial system imploded under the weight of massive state debts, trapping deposits in the banking system and impoverishing many Lebanese.
Salam, in comments to reporters on Wednesday, said he was committed to forming a government that meets the aspirations of the Lebanese people. “I want my government to be one of recovery and reform,” he said.
Cabinet formation talks in Lebanon can often drag on as sectarian-aligned groups barter over ministerial portfolios.
Israel dealt massive blows to Hezbollah during last year’s war, killing many of its leaders including Hassan Nasrallah.
(Reporting by Tom Perry and Maya Gebeily; writing by Tom Perry; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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