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Hariri: Aoun’s Visit to Saudi Arabia has Removed Ambiguities | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Prime Minister Saad Hariri chairs Cabinet session on Wednesday (dalatinohra.net)


Beirut – Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Wednesday that President Michel Aoun’s Gulf tour was an important step towards deepening relations and removing past ambiguities.

During a Cabinet session held on Wednesday at the Grand Serail, Hariri said that Aoun’s visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar “are an important step toward deepening relations, removing ambiguities and ironing out differences that prevailed during the past period.”

Wednesday’s ministerial session was the first the new prime minister has chaired since he took office on Dec. 18, a month and a half after Aoun’s election by Parliament as Lebanon’s president.

In a statement read by Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury at the outset of the session, Hariri said that the president’s visit to the Gulf serves the country’s interests.

“His excellency the president is trustworthy with this responsibility. We will be by his side in everything that serves Lebanon’s interest and its distinguished role among its [Arab] brothers,” the statement read.

Hariri went on to describe Aoun’s two-day state visit to Saudi Arabia as “historic and successful by all criteria.”

He also hailed the friendship expressed by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz toward Lebanon, the president and the Lebanese people in general.

Hariri added that Saudi Arabia has always stood by Lebanon and its people and was the main defender of its security, stability and the safety of coexistence among its people away from foreign intervention.

Heading a high-ranking delegation of eight ministers, Aoun arrived in Qatar on Wednesday, following a visit to Saudi Arabia where he met with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and other senior officials.