FRANCE AND SAUDI ARABIA ‘WILL SUPPORT LEBANESE’
▶ French president in Jeddah after meeting Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed
France and Saudi Arabia assured Lebanon of their support during a call to the country’s prime minister, French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday after talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah.
Mr Macron said they called Prime Minister Najib Mikati to emphasise that Paris and Riyadh were committed to supporting Lebanon, which is facing a series of crises.
Mr Macron’s remarks suggest relations have thawed between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon after comments by Lebanese minister George Kordahi in support of the Houthi rebels in Yemen sparked a diplomatic rift with Gulf states.
Mr Kordahi resigned as information minister on Friday.
Mr Macron flew to Jeddah yesterday on the final stop of a twoday tour of the Gulf that began in the UAE with a meeting with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. France and the UAE announced a series of agreements worth billions of dollars.
One of the highlights of the visit was a deal worth about $19 billion for France to supply the UAE with 80 Rafale fighter jets and 12 H225 helicopters.
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company announced two agreements to increase investment in priority sectors in France. Mr Macron was accompanied by business delegation of about 100 companies, including TotalEnergies, EDF, Thales and Vivendi.
Mr Macron, who arrived in Jeddah after a stop in Qatar, said he and Prince Mohammed “worked a lot” on the issue of assisting Lebanon.
“We want to intervene to help the Lebanese people and do all we can to reopen economic and trade exchange, whether it comes to supplying energy, providing foodstuff or humanitarian aid – these issues are urgent for the people,” Mr Macron said. “Our goal is for the government to operate normally and meet as soon as possible to carry out crucial reforms. I will speak to [Lebanese] President Michel Aoun tomorrow as soon as I return to Paris.”
Saudi Arabia expelled Lebanon’s envoy to the kingdom, recalled its ambassador to Beirut and banned Lebanese imports after the comments by Mr Kordahi.
The UAE and Bahrain took similar steps. Mr Macron considers Saudi Arabia vital to stabilising regional tensions with Iran, as well viewing the kingdom as an ally in the fight against
extremists from the Middle East to West Africa, where France is leading an counterinsurgency effort in the Sahel region.
Aside from long-standing energy and defence co-operation, France and Saudi Arabia are expanding ties to cover transport and renewable energy.
French company Alstom is working on the Riyadh Metro project, which will involve 176 kilometres of rail line and 85 stations, while French energy company EDF has worked on a 300-megawatt solar power plant and a 400MW wind farm.
Mr Macron last visited the kingdom in 2017, when Lebanon’s crisis of government was in its early days.
The continuing economic and political crisis in Lebanon and the need to de-escalate regional tensions were expected to lead the meeting’s agenda.
Before the coronavirus pandemic began, Saudi exports to France were worth more than $6bn a year, while France exported $3.5bn of goods to the kingdom.
French-Saudi co-operation has in recent years centred on the AlUla tourism project, part of the kingdom’s drive to diversify its economy.