Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Sa‘ad Hariri met Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi in Cairo on Thursday, in an attempt to close ranks with the most populous Sunni power in the Arab world amid growing street protests at home over tax hikes.
Hariri, who heads the Lebanese government which was formed late last year after a two-year vacuum, is looking to stem the rising tide of Iranian influence in the region and particularly in Lebanon.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun is leading a government divided between politicians who both back and reject Iranian meddling.
Aoun himself was seen as Iran’s preferred choice for the presidency and has openly backed the right of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militant group to be armed, even though it is the only armed group currently in Lebanon.
The leaders were expected to discuss several regional developments ahead of next week’s Arab League summit in Jordan.
At last Arab League summit, Lebanese Foreign Minister Jibran Bassil, seen as pro-Iranian, refused to condemn attacks on Saudi missions in Iran, which sparked a massive diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
In response, Saudi Arabia stopped critical military aid to the Lebanese army and banned its citizens from travelling to Lebanon, in a severe blow to Lebanon’s tourism industry.
Hariri hoped the meeting could help coordinate positions ahead of the critical summit in order to avoid past embarrassments.
On Tuesday, Hariri met with the Coptic Pope, Tawadros II of Alexandria as well as Shaikh Ahmad Al Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, in what was a follow-up to a recent Al Azhar gathering that promoted coexistence.
Hariri is keen to see the results of the “Freedom and Citizenship” applied, especially in Lebanon and Egypt, two Levantine societies that struggle with sectarianism.
Like the Pope Tawadros II, who called for “fighting extremist thought with enlightened thought”, Hariri also believes that negative voices in Lebanon ought to give way to tolerance.
Hariri was accompanied by a high-ranking official delegation that includes the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health Ghassan Hasbani, as well as the Ministers of Education Marwan Hamadeh, Agriculture Minister Ghazi Zoaiter, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Interior Minister Nouhad Al Mashnouq, Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury, Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos, Energy and Water Minister Cesar Abi Khalil, Economy and Trade Minister Raed Khoury, along with his Chief of Staff Nader Hariri and the heads of press and editors syndicates Aouni Kaaki and Elias Aoun.
Hariri and Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Esmail co-chaired the meeting of Lebanon-Egypt Joint Higher Committee — which had not met for seven years. According to press reports they inked 16 cooperation protocols and memoranda of understanding, pertaining to security, trade, consumer protection, culture, environment, tourism and industry.
