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Saudi Arabian Surgery for Lebanon | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Saudi Arabia halts aid for the Lebanese Army


Saudi Arabia halts aid for the Lebanese Army

Saudi Arabia halts aid for the Lebanese Army

There is no appropriate description for the current tragic Lebanese situation which led to the issuance of the predicted Saudi decision to conduct a reconsideration of its relations with Lebanon; a decision that perhaps is more drastic than the despair of the Lebanese Minister of Justice, Ashraf Rifi, of justice itself in his country; with the latter feeling obliged to resort to the international justice to prosecute former Minister Michel Samaha, who is protected by Hezbollah’s stances, considering this party in place over the Lebanese state.

Imagine that the Minister of State himself is a victim for Hezbollah’s conspiracies and unable to face them, thus what could be said about the Lebanese arena that has become occupied by local forces working in favor of the Iranian agenda?
In this case, would we be surprised from the Saudi decision to perform a “surgery” for the official body of Lebanon, hoping to save it from the outbreak of the Iranian infection?!

All Arabs know very well that Saudi Arabia has always been supporting Lebanon without regardless of the party; it supported the Shiites and Sunnis, the Christians and Muslims, and all the other religions and sects in Lebanon equally. In addition, to the Shiite regions destroyed by Israel in 2006 that were reconstructed by Saudi funds regardless of their opposing political stance towards Hezbollah.

Saudi Arabia confirmed in its statement saying: “the Kingdom stands by the Lebanese people with all its sects, and the Kingdom will not give up on the Lebanese people and will continue to support them, stressing that these positions do not represent the Lebanese people.”

However, what can Saudi Arabia do as long as Hassan Nasrallah and his party want to transform Lebanon into a platform to attack the Kingdom and Arabs in Iran’s favor? What is the solution if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is controlled by Hezbollah through its ally Michel Aoun, has adopted stances that distanced Lebanon from the Arab consensus into the Iranian side?

With its decision, Riyadh has put the ball in the Lebanese people’s court, if they see their interests lie in moving to the Arab bank and let go of the Iranian hegemony, then it is not hard for them to achieve. Nevertheless, if they see that the interest of their country lies in staying in the Iranian bank, with all its complexities and disasters, then this is also their right.

Moreover, the current Lebanese government ought to specify its stance since the deceptive game of working on both sides that some ministers and a number of Lebanese politicians are playing will not work, particularly with the revelation of their real stances and leadership capabilities, especially after things have reached an unbearable point by opening a door for Iran to occupy a seat in the Arab League through Lebanon.

No country in the world accepts to be back-stabbed by a so-called ally, and no country in the world accepts to provide aids for a country that will use them in conspiracies targeting its peace and stability. Riyadh has been patient for so long now, and it found out that the only way to return Lebanon to the Arabs is by issuing this decision.

On the other hand, Assad’s regime did not only succeed in assassinating Rafic Hariri but also in assassinating the actual leadership which put an end to the dependence on the Iranian-Syrian decision. The truth is that no one ever was able to replace what Hariri, the father, left behind; therefore, the Saudi Arabian surgery to save Lebanon and fill the gap between it and its Arab region has become a must. No matter how difficult and shocking this operation is and no matter how catastrophic its results will be, it is thousand times better than leaving the situation in Lebanon the way it is since Lebanon’s capital nowadays is Tehran, not Beirut!