Saudi and Qatari ministers discuss Lebanese file

Following a U.S. mediation, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have agreed to open a new chapter of cooperation between them, especially in files related to Lebanon and Syria, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

Doha had on Sunday witnessed a meeting over the Lebanese file between State Minister at the Qatari Foreign Ministry Mohammad al-Khulaifi and Saudi envoy for Lebanon Prince Yazid bin Farhan.

Al-Akhbar quoted sources as saying that the talks were part of a series of meetings between the two men over Lebanon, especially that al-Khulaifi has become in charge of the Lebanese file.

“The two sides deliberately publicized the meeting for several purposes, including refuting the rumors about a Saudi-Qatari rift over the Lebanese file, and making the Lebanese parties sense the seriousness of the coming period and the dangerous challenges it will carry ahead of the meeting between the enemy’s (Israel’s) PM Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump,” the sources said.

The two men also discussed “means to support the Lebanese Army to enable it to extend its authority in the expected second phase of the plan to monopolize arms in the hands of the Lebanese state,” the sources added.