Saudi Arabia consider continuing imports to Lebanon, abolishing travel prohibition | News about politics
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun visits Riyadh in his first trip abroad since he assumed his post in January.
Saudi Arabia will review “obstacles” to continue the Lebanese import and end the ban on their nationals visiting Lebanon, two governments said.
The announcement was published in a joint statement published after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met de facto Prestolonjenjan Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) in Riyadh on Tuesday – the first trip to AOON since he assumed his duty in January.
Saudi Arabia renewed her interest in Lebanese politics after a long period when she retained the distance due to the influence of Iranian Hezbollah-Sad weakened after last year’s war with Israel.
“The two sides agreed that they would begin to study the obstacles that confronted the continuation of exports from the Lebanese Republic to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the measures needed to allow Saudi citizens to travel to” Lebanon, according to a statement published by the Official Saudi Printing Agency.
In April 2021, the kingdom suspended the import of fruits and vegetables from Lebanon, accusing of the shipments used for drug smuggling and accusing Beirut of inactivity.
Saudi Arabia was the most important destination for Lebanese agricultural exports in 2019, taking 22.1 percent, according to a report of the Lebanese Government in 2020.
Since 2021, the Saudis also had to get their government permission before traveling to Lebanon for a tense relationship.
The two countries also agreed on the “need to withdraw the Israeli occupation army” from the Lebanese territory under November.
Last week, Defense Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that the troops would remain indefinitely in what he called the “tampon zone” after the expiration of the extended deadline, February 18 for Israel to complete his withdrawal from Lebanon.
Aoun arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday night, marking for the first time in eight years that the Lebanese head of the state had visited Riyadh.
Aoun told the Saudi Arabic Language newspapers on Friday that he would also “ask if possible to re-activate military assistance” after Riyadh stopped $ 3 billion in military assistance in the Lebanese Army, stating the influence of Hezbollah.
