President Mikati held a retreat with Minister Al-Sabah that lasted for half an hour, followed by an expanded meeting in which Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Judge Mahmoud Makiya and President Mikati’s diplomatic advisor Ambassador Boutros Asaker participated on the Lebanese side.
On the Kuwaiti side, the Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab World Affairs, Minister Plenipotentiary Nasser Sanhat Al-Qahtani, the Chargé d’Affairs of the State of Kuwait’s Embassy in Lebanon, Abdullah Suleiman Al-Shaheen, Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Minister’s Office Affairs Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al-Shuraim, Counselor in the Foreign Minister’s Office Fawaz Abdullah Bouresli, and Second Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs also attended. Arab World Affairs Salem Ali Abu Hadideh.
During the meeting, President Mikati welcomed the visit of the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, which expresses close brotherly feelings and a long history of understanding and trust between Lebanon and Kuwait.
He thanked the State of Kuwait, the Emir, the government and the people, for their permanent support for Lebanon.
He said: The relations between our two countries have represented a model of brotherhood, and we thank Kuwait for its lasting help and support for Lebanon at all times and in all circumstances, and for its embrace of the Lebanese. Kuwait, under the directive of an Amiri, rose to heal the afflicted and contribute to the reconstruction of what was destroyed.
He said: We are looking forward to closer cooperation between Lebanon and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and God willing, Kuwait will be by Lebanon’s side, and the relations between Lebanon and the Arab brothers will restore their strength.
The Kuwaiti minister had arrived at the Grand Serail at half past six, and was received in the external courtyard by Protocol Director Lahoud Lahoud.
It is scheduled to continue the talks during a dinner hosted by President Mikati at his residence in honor of Minister Al-Sabah.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, arrived on Saturday evening in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, regarding two months following a major crisis sparked by the statements of the former Lebanese Minister of Information, George Kordahi, regarding the Yemen war. He was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdullah Bu Habib. Al-Sabah, to meet him once more on Sunday at a quarter to one in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait had withdrawn their ambassadors from Beirut, and had asked their ambassadors to Lebanon, and the charge d’affaires (the Lebanese to Kuwait), to leave their lands. Riyadh banned all Lebanese imports, in protest once morest Qardahi’s statements regarding the ongoing war in Yemen for nearly seven years.
