Beirut: The pro-Hezbollah daily Al Safir reported on Saturday that Michel Aoun, the newly elected Lebanese President, will soon visit Riyadh.
According to the paper, Aoun plans to push for the reactivation of the Saudi grant to purchase French weapons for the Lebanese Armed Forces, which were halted in February 2016 when Foreign Minister Jibran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, refused to condemn Iranian attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.
It was unclear whether the matter was cleared with France, the seller of the equipment, and whether Riyadh received assurances that these would not fall into Hezbollah’s hands.
An unnamed Lebanese official told Al Safir that Aoun will now try to build bridges between Sunnis and Shiites and plans to visit Riyadh and Tehran in an attempt to display a new leading role for the Christians in the region.
Hezbollah was designated a terrorist organisation by GCC states earlier this year. They have imposed sanctions on the Shiite group since 2013, after it entered Syria’s war in support of Bashar Al Assad.
It was unclear whether Aoun would try to convince Riyadh to soften its stance over Hezbollah.
Lebanon received the first tranche of weapons under the Saudi grant in 2015. The financial support was intended to bolster the Lebanese army with, among other weapons, anti-tank guided missiles. But Bassil’s continuous jabs at Saudi Arabia led to the cancellation of the grant.
GCC relations with Iran nosedived earlier this year after Saudi Arabian diplomatic missions in Iran were ransacked by rioters.
Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Iran after the attacks.
