What it takes to normalize Lebanon-GCC relations

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SINCE the beginning of the crisis with Lebanon, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been clear in terms of diagnosing the cause of the problem, and they developed a road map to solve it.

This is what Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati should be well aware of, so that he does not assume, after the joint phone call with the French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that the call is enough to render the water back to its normal course between the Gulf capitals and Beirut, and that the problem is over.

In fact, the Prime Minister should take into account several political issues so that such situations do not recur in the future, including:

1. This call can be considered as a sign of the GCC’s goodwill. However, the question still remains – Can the Lebanese officials invest in practical steps that can contribute to implementing the roadmap for remedying the Gulf relations?

2. The Prime Minister Mikati should know that Qardahi’s resignation does not enter into the Gulf accounts in its broadest sense, as it is a purely internal Lebanese affair, even if his statement is what healed the wound.

3. All Lebanese political forces are required to distance Lebanon from being a conduit for smuggling of drugs to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, by taking strict security measures at the country’s ports, and in full coordination with the GCC capitals.

4. Distance Lebanon from being a media platform for attacking Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries under the guise of personal opinion or freedom of opinion.

5. The most important thing is to clip Hezbollah’s nails to stop tampering with the security of Saudi Arabia and the internal affairs of the Gulf states in order to pass the scheme of the Mullahs regime through the Iranian occupation agent Hassan Nasrallah.

For all of the above, we say that the problem is not with people so that it can be ended with phone calls, reproaches and promises. Instead, it is with the people of these countries who have tasted both of the practices of the terrorist group Hezbollah, either through the cells of terrorism and espionage that Kuwait has suffered and is still suffering, or the money laundering networks, for collection of donations, and the use of zakat and “one fifth” to support it.

Therefore, the matter is in the hands of the people. They are the ones to decide, not the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

Finally, if this gang was able to destroy the beautiful Lebanon and turn it into a dumping ground for the regimes of opposition, there is no doubt that the GCC countries and their people will not accept this deadly virus to reach them.

Hence, the Lebanese officials must abandon the policy of submission to Nasrallah, and make up their minds to save their country, so that the GCC countries can help them and lift Lebanon out of its crisis.

Those who think that the Gulf’s return to Lebanon is possible in the presence of Hezbollah are mistaken.

The Lebanese officials should not build palaces of illusions just over a phone call. They should realize the reality of their difficult situation, and not rely on making verbal promises. They should take the initiative to stop Nasrallah’s plans and rescue the country and its people from his clutches and that of his masters.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

This news has been read 22543 times!