LF Leader Geagea welcomes Saudi decision to reopen market to Lebanese products

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Saudi Arabia’s decision to reopen its market to Lebanese products reflects the kingdom’s longstanding interest in Lebanon.

In a post on X, Geagea said Lebanon had previously suffered from the absence of a functioning state, which he said allowed the country to become a transit hub for large quantities of Captagon and other drugs being smuggled into Saudi Arabia.

He said repeated warnings from Saudi Arabia had not been addressed by the relevant Lebanese authorities at the time, leading Riyadh to ban Lebanese imports, a decision he said the kingdom did not wish to take.

Geagea also said Lebanon had been used as a platform for hostile and inflammatory rhetoric against Saudi Arabia, despite its positive role toward Lebanon, and criticized past Lebanese positions in regional and international forums, which he said did not serve national or Arab interests.

He added that with what he described as the emergence of a functioning state in Lebanon under President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the government, Saudi Arabia had decided to restore access for Lebanese products.

Geagea thanked Saudi Arabia for the decision, saying it reflects renewed confidence in Lebanon.