Quoting an unnamed official source, the Saudi Press Agency said the decision had come after Riyadh had conducted a “comprehensive review” of its relations with Lebanon. Saudi Arabia said that it had done everything in its power to prevent matters getting to the point that they have and that it is confident that the positions taken by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry do not represent the Lebanese people.
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“We express our deep appreciation for King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his brothers in the Saudi leadership… and we hope for a reconsideration of the decision to halt the aid for our army and security forces”, he said in a statement. “We are keen on keeping the relations brotherly and friendly”.
The schism has been exacerbated by the war in neighbouring Syria, with Hezbollah sending fighters to bolster President Bashar al-Assad against an uprising that is supported by Saudi Arabia and Hariri’s political bloc. According to Riyadh, Lebanon has taken “regrettable and unjustified” positions recently which are not in line with the “fraternal relations” between the two countries.
Pro-Saudi Lebanese politicians said Hezbollah and its allies were to blame for not backing the kingdom in its conflict with Iran.
Saudi Arabia has made a decision to protect its own interests through stopping the military assistance worth $3 billion to the Lebanese army and the unpaid $1 billion dollars to the security forces, the report said. “We’ve given some $1.4 billion since 2005, and that support will continue”.
Alleged leaders of Lebanon-based Hezbollah are under sanction by Saudi Arabia. Lebanon has witnessed vehicle bombings and clashes that pitted the army against Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front militants. The Saudi pledge by the late King Abdullah, announced in December 2013, was described at the time as the largest-ever single grant to the Lebanese armed forces.
A slide in the USA equity markets, which have for weeks been trading in tandem with oil, also weighed on crude, traders said.
On Wednesday, WTI jumped more than seven percent while Brent added 5.6 percent, after Saudi Arabia and Russian Federation, the two biggest producers in the world, agreed to limit their pumping – but only if others followed suit.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai.
