Aoun, MBS stress need for state monopoly on arms, Israel pullout

President Joseph Aoun and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman have stressed “the importance of the full implementation of the Taif Agreement and the relevant U.N. resolutions,” in a joint statement issued after Aoun’s first visit to the kingdom in his capacity as president.

They also emphasized the need for “the state’s expansion of its sovereignty across Lebanese territory” and “monopolizing weapons in the hands of the Lebanese state,” while underscoring “the national role of the Lebanese Army and the importance of supporting it, and the need for the Israeli occupation army’s withdrawal from all Lebanese territory.”

The two sides also agreed to “begin studying the obstacles facing the resumption of exportation from the Lebanese Republic to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and “the needed measures to allow Saudi citizens to travel” to Lebanon.

Moreover, they agreed on “the need for the Lebanese economy to recover and overcome its current crisis” and that Lebanon should “begin the internationally-demanded reforms according to the principles of transparency and the implementation of binding laws.”

Aoun meanwhile invited Crown Prince Mohammad to visit Lebanon, finding “appreciation and welcoming for the invitation” from the Saudi leader, the statement said.

The visit by Aoun, the first by a Lebanese head of state to the oil-rich kingdom in eight years, improves ties between the two countries that have been cold for years over Iran’s influence in Lebanon.

Aoun visited Saudi Arabia several times when he was army commander, and many in Lebanon hope that his visit as president will open the way for lifting a ban on imports from Lebanon as well as allowing Saudi citizens to travel to Lebanon.

Aoun was received Monday night by Bin Salman at Yamama Palace in the capital, Riyadh, where they discussed the situation in Lebanon and boosting relations between the two countries, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Aoun’s visit comes after the Iran-backed Hezbollah suffered severe blows during a 14-month war with Israel that left many of its top political and military officials dead and ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in late November. Israel withdrew many of its troops from Lebanon in mid-February but left five posts inside Lebanon, which Lebanese officials have described as a violation of the ceasefire deal.

Aoun last week told Saudi Arabia's Asharq News that Riyadh would reactivate a $3 billion package for the Lebanese Army. In 2016, Saudi Arabia announced it was halting deals aimed at equipping and supporting the Lebanese Army and police forces in retaliation for the tiny country’s siding with Iran amid the Sunni kingdom’s spat with the Shiite power.

Aoun was elected in January after more than two-year vacuum in the country’s top post, while diplomat and former head of the International Court of Justice Nawaf Salam was named prime minister. Both Aoun and Salam have said they will work on improving relations with Arab countries and implementing reforms. The election of Aoun and Salam was seen as major blow to Hezbollah.