House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Monday welcomed the Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, with whom he broached the relationship crisis between Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states.
Zaki deemed his meeting with Berri substantial to help draw a full picture of the prevailing situation, and the best means to resolve the crisis.
“We will assess the situation after returning to Cairo and speaking to the Secretary-General; a decision will then be taken regarding the next step, and how we plan to act in order to complete efforts to resolve this crisis,” Zaki said.
Whether he has discussed with Lebanese officials the possibility of deporting a certain category of Lebanese citizens from the KSA, Zaki said: “This talk is not only baseless, but I think that it seeks to harm my mission, unfortunately. I hope that the media will only focus on what I say.”
In response to a question if the solution begins with the resignation of Minister George Kordahi, and if something has been mentioned in this regard, Zaki said: “The issue has been raised right from the start; a resignation could have defused the crisis from the beginning, but things continued this way. However, Lebanon’s president, prime minister, and house speaker have shown keenness on the best of relationships with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states; they do not wish to see this crisis continue, yet they are relying on the concerned minister’s sense of patriotism.”
Separately, Berri received United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier de Schutter, and an accompanying delegation, with whom he discussed the country’s general situation, especially on the health and economic levels.
Berri then followed up on depositors’ rights during a meeting with Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh. Source: National News Agency