Saudis Support UN Force in South Lebanon
While Saudi Arabia remains critical of Israeli actions and the American veto in the UN last week, it has announced that it will support the dispatch of a UN force to southern Lebanon assuming the Lebanese government does the same. At a Jiddah press conference, Prince Saud, the Kingdom’s foreign minister, affirmed: “We support the Lebanese government affirming control over all of its territory.”
He also called for international support for “the legitimate Lebanese government’s efforts to preserve its authority and supremacy over the whole of Lebanon.” He also stated, in a remark aimed at Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran: “What Lebanon needs right now is peace and not to gamble with its interests and its national unity. This is what the Kingdom wishes from all countries interested in [the] Arab situation in general and Lebanon specifically.”
Prince Saud acknowledged that the King Abdullah had received a message from the Iranian president, but the foreign minister refused to disclose its contents or to, as the Arab News report put it, “to name any names.”
He also called for international support for “the legitimate Lebanese government’s efforts to preserve its authority and supremacy over the whole of Lebanon.” He also stated, in a remark aimed at Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran: “What Lebanon needs right now is peace and not to gamble with its interests and its national unity. This is what the Kingdom wishes from all countries interested in [the] Arab situation in general and Lebanon specifically.”
Prince Saud acknowledged that the King Abdullah had received a message from the Iranian president, but the foreign minister refused to disclose its contents or to, as the Arab News report put it, “to name any names.”
