Visiting Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah said that his country seeks to restore ties with Lebanon…reports Asian Lite News
“For this to happen, we call on Lebanon to distance itself from internal affairs of other countries and avoid being a platform for attacking Arab and Gulf countries,” Xinhua news agency quoted Al-Sabah as saying following his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati here on Saturday.
Al-Sabah said his two-day visit to Lebanon also aims to convey a message of solidarity with the Lebanese people and to encourage Lebanon to implement necessary reforms to restore its prosperity.
For his part, Mikati said Lebanon is looking forward to closer cooperation with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
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“Lebanon will restore its strong ties with its Arab brothers,” Mikati welcomed Al-Sabah’s visit, adding the visit reflects “brotherly feelings and a long history of trust between Lebanon and Kuwait.”
This is the first visit by a senior Gulf official to Lebanon since a diplomatic rift between the two sides last year.
GCC countries including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain expelled in October Lebanese diplomats and recalled their own envoys following a Lebanese Minister’s controversial comments about the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.
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The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister also said that his country has made suggestions to Lebanese President Michel Aoun on how Lebanon might rebuild confidence with the Gulf states.
“All of these suggestions are derived from international legitimacy resolutions and resolutions of the League of Arab States,” Al-Sabah told a press conference on Sunday after a meeting with Aoun on the second day of his two-day visit to Lebanon.
He noted Kuwait does not want Lebanon to be a platform for any verbal or actual attacks against Arab states, Xinhua news agency reported.
For his part, the Lebanese President said Lebanon is committed to implementing the Taif Agreement which ended the civil war in Lebanon and relevant international legitimacy and Arab resolutions, and Al-Sabah’s proposal will be subject to consultations.
Aoun reiterated the strength of the Lebanese-Kuwaiti relations while thanking Kuwait for always standing with Lebanon in difficult times.
This is the first visit by a senior official from a Gulf country to Lebanon in an effort to find ways of restoring bilateral ties since a diplomatic rift emerged between the two sides in 2021.
