Dubai: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Thursday he had agreed with President Michel Aoun on a “roadmap” to solve a diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia, according to a Lebanese presidency post on Twitter.
He did not give details.
Lebanon is facing its worst rift yet with Gulf Arab states, spurred by comments about the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kurdahi before his official appointment.
Saudi Arabia and some Gulf Arab allies reacted angrily to the remarks.
Riyadh expelled Lebanon’s ambassador, banned all imports from Lebanon and recalled its envoy for consultations.
Lebanon is suffering a financial and economic meltdown which the World Bank has labelled as one of the deepest depressions of modern history.
On Wednesday, the United States called on Gulf countries to restore relations with Lebanon, saying the struggling nation needed international support.
“Our position is that diplomatic channels should remain open if we are to seek to improve the humanitarian conditions of the Lebanese people,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
The statement comes a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Glasgow.
Blinken said the United States would provide support to Lebanon as it seeks to exit a historic economic crisis and as Mikati struggles to bring political stability after a power vacuum of more than one year.
The UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain recalled its diplomats from Beirut in solidarity with Riyadh.
Price said the United States did not have a position on whether Kurdahi should stay in his position but voiced understanding for Saudi concerns.
“The notion that the [Al] Houthis have been anything but a destabilizing force and a force that has inflicted additional hardship on the people of Yemen, that is not an idea that we recognize,” Price said.
