Abou Faour, Taymour Jumblat to Meet Saudi Officials in Riyadh

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour and son of Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, Taymour, arrived in Riyadh to hold consultations with a number of Saudi officials who are following up on the situation in Lebanon, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.

Informed sources told the daily that the two officials will not meet former Premier Saad Hariri, who has been in Sardinia since the end of the Eid al-Fitr holiday over the weekend.

Abou Faour and Taymour Jumblat were aware ahead of their trip that Hariri would not be in the kingdom, meaning that the purpose of their visit was meeting high-ranking Saudi officials, said al-Joumhouria.

The former prime minister has been residing in Jeddah.

As Safir daily had stated on Monday that Abou Faour and Taymour Jumblat were headed to Saudi Arabia to meet Hariri.

Several members of the March 14 alliance are likely to join in the discussions taking place in Jeddah in a bid to help solve the stalemate in forming a government, the daily quoted informed sources on condition of anonymity.

Premier-designate Tammam Salam, on a vacation in Switzerland, contacted Hariri for the same purpose, according to As Safir.

Jumblat is meanwhile expected to deliver a speech on Sunday, commemorating the annual anniversary of the PSP martyrs in Aley.