Beirut: Saudi Arabia formally invited Lebanon Prime Minister Sa‘ad Hariri and not President Michel Aoun to the May 21 Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh with US President Donald Trump.
According to several Lebanese officials the invitation — which was hand-delivered to Hariri by Walid Al Bukhari the Chargé d’Affaires at the Saudi Embassy in Lebanon — amounted to a “flagrant diplomatic and protocol error”, given that the summit is slated to be held at the level of presidents and kings.
Acerbic commentators maintained that Hariri has been invited to the summit because it is being marketed as an Arab-Islamic affair, although Lebanon’s Christian presidents have taken part in several Islamic summits in the past, as long as these were not held in Makkah.
Accordingly, the invitation was likely not related to Aoun’s religious identity, but probably a reflection of Riyadh’s interpretations of the Lebanese head-of-state’s regional preferences. Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement are aligned with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah Party, and while the Lebanese president met with King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz during his January 2017 visit to Riyadh, past grievances were not resolved.
For his part, Hariri vowed to consult with the president, before accepting the invitation. Aoun’s eventual approval will mean that Lebanon will be present at the summit and, far more important, illustrate how the two men attempt to balance Lebanon’s alliances in the Arab and Muslim worlds.
“The aim of the summit is to work towards the establishment of a new partnership to confront extremism and terrorism and reinforce the values of tolerance and better living for the future of our generations in the Arab region,” Al Bukhari said on Thursday, a proposition to which Beirut subscribed in full.
Moreover, and as this will be the first opportunity for a Lebanese leader to meet with the new US President, Aoun is likely to spin the event as a win-win for the challenged country, insisting that his prime minister will be an excellent representative.
In addition to Hariri, King Salman invited several Arab and Muslims leaders, including President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahayan (UAE), Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed (Oman), King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa (Bahrain), Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah (Kuwait), Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (Qatar), King Abdullah (Jordan), President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika (Algeria), President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi (Yemen), King Mohammed (Morocco), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey), President Fuad Masum (Iraq), President Beji Qaid Al Sebsi (Tunisia), President Mahamadou Issoufou (Niger), Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan), Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina (Bangladesh). Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (Malaysia).
