Al-Yami added that the French-Saudi initiative to address the crisis between Riyadh and Beirut opened a window in the wall that continued Lebanon's relations with the Gulf, speaking of progress towards helping the Lebanese people, not the politicians, with a guarantee from the French side.
Yesterday, Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a French-Saudi initiative to address the crisis between Riyadh and Beirut, while a Lebanese representative from the Mikati bloc said that Riyadh had given an indication of pushing towards supporting Lebanon and its government.
The Saudi guest stressed - in his speech to an episode of "Beyond the News" program (2021/5) - on what he called the commitment that moves things forward, and that the Lebanese party "committed to reform" during the contact that took place between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Al-Yami also indicated that Saudi Arabia does not want to harm the Lebanese, but that it cannot help a "political apparatus that identifies with projects that contradict the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
While stressing that the return of ambassadors between Beirut and Riyadh is not the task, the former advisor at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke about the challenges facing the decision-maker in Lebanon. He specifically mentioned the issue of Hezbollah's weapons, and described the government of Lebanon as paralyzed and the state of Lebanon as "failed."
A humanitarian conference and another for the national dialogue
For his part, writer and political analyst Tawfiq Shoman said that the Saudi-French initiative opened more than one door to the Lebanese-Gulf relations and the re-establishment of the Lebanese political system, indicating that the initiative was welcomed by the Lebanese political forces.
According to Schuman, the French president aims to do more than restore relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, revealing a humanitarian conference that will be called, and another conference for the Lebanese-Lebanese dialogue under Arab sponsorship to be held in the French capital, Paris, and it is not excluded that there will be Iranian consent to participate in it.
The Lebanese guest indicated that what was stated in the joint statement between Saudi Arabia and France regarding the formation of a humanitarian mechanism to support Lebanon will be presented in the national dialogue.
But Schumann made it clear that the reform process in Lebanon is difficult and complicated, and it is a long and tortuous path, and that Saudi Arabia and France are not betting on urgent reform.
On the other hand, the writer and political analyst made it clear that the main issue that Saudi Arabia wants and was not addressed in the joint statement between it and France is related to the situation in Yemen’s Marib, a position supported by the Saudi guest, as he stressed that the files in the region are not dealt with separately, and both affected by the other.
Riyadh announced at the end of last October that it had summoned its ambassador to Lebanon for consultations, and requested that the Lebanese ambassador leave within 48 hours, following the publication of an interview with the resigned Lebanese Minister of Information, George Qardahi, in which he described the conflict in Yemen as absurd.