RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is to review “obstacles” to resuming Lebanese imports and ending a ban on its nationals visiting Lebanon, the two governments said on Tuesday as relations improve. The joint statement came a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on his first trip abroad since taking office in January.

Saudi Arabia has recently renewed its interest in Lebanese politics after a long period when it kept its distance over the influence of Hezbollah — now weakened after last year’s war with the Zionist entity. “The two sides agreed to start studying the obstacles facing the resumption of exports from the Lebanese Republic to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the measures necessary to allow Saudi citizens to travel to” Lebanon, the statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

In April 2021, the kingdom suspended fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon, charging that shipments were being used for drug-smuggling and accusing Beirut of inaction. Saudi Arabia was the top destination for Lebanese agricultural exports in 2019, taking 22.1 percent, a Lebanese government report found in 2020. Since 2021, Saudis have also had to obtain their government’s permission before traveling to Lebanon because of strained relations.

The election of Aoun, the preferred candidate of both Riyadh and Washington, was made possible by the weakening of Hezbollah and the overthrow of its ally Bashar Al-Assad in Syria which shifted the balance of power in Lebanon. The two sides agreed on the importance of “extending the state’s sovereignty over all Lebanese territory, restricting weapons possession to the Lebanese state, emphasizing the national role of the Lebanese army and the importance of supporting it”, the statement said.

In 2016, Riyadh halted $3 billion in military aid to the Lebanese army, citing the political influence of Hezbollah. On Friday, Aoun told Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that he would “seek, if possible, to reactivate military aid” during his Riyadh visit. The joint statement also “emphasized the importance of implementing the commitments made in the presidential oath”.

Aoun had pledged upon taking office to usher in a new era in which the state would have a “monopoly on weapons”, in a country where Hezbollah was the only faction to retain its arms after the 1975-1990 civil war. They also agreed on “the necessity of the (Zionist) occupation army’s withdrawal” from Lebanese territory under a November ceasefire. Last week, Defense Minister Israel Katz said troops would remain indefinitely in what he called a “buffer zone” after the expiry of an extended, Feb 18 deadline for the Zionist entity to complete its withdrawal. – AFP