Saudi Regime to lift travel warning for Lebanon

Saudi Arabia will lift its warning against citizens traveling to Lebanon, its ambassador to Beirut says, as a visiting envoy from the kingdom met top Lebanese officials.

“Given that the previous security reasons have ended and based on reassurances from the Lebanese government to Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia then is lifting its travel warning for its citizens,” Waleed Bukhari said on al-Jadeed television.

Riyadh has repeatedly issued warnings against travel to Lebanon since January 2011.

A fall in visitors from Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies has hit Lebanon’s tourism industry, once a mainstay of the economy, adding to the Mediterranean country’s woes in recent years.

The two countries have discussed setting up a joint committee to reinforce bilateral relations, Bukhari said in a broadcast statement after the visiting Saudi envoy, Nizar al-Aloula, met Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and other Lebanese leaders.

Hariri, whose family historically had strong ties with Riyadh, last week announced the formation of a new Lebanese coalition government.

(Source: Reuters)