Kuwait’s foreign minister has visited Lebanon in the first such trip by a senior Persian Gulf Arab official since the breakout of a diplomatic rift pitting the Saudi regime and its allies against Lebanon over Beirut’s criticism of the Riyadh-led war on Yemen.
“This visit is one of various international efforts to restore trust with Lebanon,” Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammed Al Sabah said after talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the start of a two-day trip Saturday.
“We are now taking steps towards building trust … which doesn’t happen overnight,” Sabah told reporters.
He also called on Lebanese authorities to take “practical and concrete measures” that could bolster ties.
The Kuwaiti foreign minister said his visit was also to show solidarity with the Lebanese people, and that the move had been coordinated with other Persian Gulf countries.
In October last year, Lebanon’s Information Minister George Kordahi angered Riyadh and its Persian Gulf allies by describing the Saudi-led war on Yemen as “futile” in an online show affiliated with Qatar’s Al Jazeera, adding that the Yemeni armed forces are successfully defending the state.
