Report: Aoun, Hariri Had 'Positive' Meetings with Saudi Envoy

Saudi Envoy Nizar al-Alula had “positive meetings” on Monday with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri heralding for the “the re-shaping of the Lebanese-Saudi ties,” al-Akhbar daily reported on Tuesday.

Sources at the Presidential Palace and the Grand Serail, said the atmospheres were positive after two consecutive meetings held by the Saudi envoy with Aoun followed by a meeting with Hariri. Al-Aloula has also visited the tomb of Hariri's slain father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri, added the daily.

Prominent sources said the meetings “mark the crystallization of a new and positive Saudi atmosphere that is pushing for the re-shaping of the Lebanese-Saudi relationship.”

Hariri has met an official invitation to visit the Kingdom this week, “a visit expected to open a new phase in the relationship between the PM and Saudi leadership,” they added.

On Monday, Hariri's media office announced that the premier has accepted an invitation to Saudi Arabia, returning for the first time to the kingdom where he announced a shock resignation that he later rescinded.

The November 4 resignation and his prolonged stay in Saudi Arabia stirred tensions between Riyadh and Beirut, amid suspicions he had been placed under house arrest, until France intervened and he returned to Lebanon where the announcement was reversed.

Hariri said he would make the trip "as soon as possible", in a statement issued by his office.

Relations between the two countries have been strained by the competing influences in Lebanon of regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The Saudi envoy's visit comes ahead of May 6 legislative elections, Lebanon's first since 2009 following three extensions of  parliament's mandate.