Positive indications between Saudi and Lebanese Shiites loom on the horizon

Positive signs are in the Saudi-Lebanese Shiite horizon, specifically between Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz and House Speaker Nabih Berri. However, it may still be too early to speak of a breakthrough in Saudi Arabia’s relations with the Lebanese Shiite community.            

Indicative signs range from the Hashemite meeting held between Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the Islamic Summit two months ago. The visit of Berri’s adviser MP Ali Hassan Khalil to the Kingdom less than a month ago, and the lunch banquet held between Future bloc leader Fouad Siniora and Berri following the most recent national dialogue session have also been viewed as good omens in the long stagnant relations.                 

All these suggest a small breakthrough in relations between the KSA and both Hezbollah and Amal, deadlocked since the toppling of Saad Hariri’s government.                        

Former Saudi ambassador to Lebanon Abdulaziz Khoja is making a comeback, along with current ambassador Ali Assiri, to break the ice between the two sides, with the keywords being Syria and Qatif.              

In fact, it seems that Saudi Arabia does not want to see the security situation in Lebanon spin out of control at a time when the Syrian side of the border seems to be in a steady state of deterioration.                   

In Qatif, the attempts of Prince Salman to calm the situation in the Kingdom’s eastern region began to surface in a bid to contain the Shiites’ resentment towards the ruling family after years of marginalization and sectarian discrimination.


For the full LBCI report, watch the video above.