Kuwait vows support to cash-strapped Lebanon

BEIRUT

Kuwait has vowed support to cash-strapped Lebanon, the Lebanese government said on Sunday.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati received a phone call from Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.

A statement issued by Mikati’s office said Sheikh Ahmed said Kuwait “will spare no efforts to support Lebanon and help it to bounce back.”

"The Gulf countries are looking forward to the stability, security, and recovery of our beloved brotherly Lebanon,” he said. “The ties that unite Kuwait and Lebanon in particular are very solid, and are becoming more and more solid with the days.”

The chief Kuwaiti diplomat also hailed Mikati's efforts to restore Lebanese-Gulf relations.

Lebanon’s relations with the Gulf nations nosedived in recent months after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies withdrew their ambassadors from Beirut in protest of criticism of the Yemen war by former Information Minister George Kordahi.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Yemen, however, returned their envoys to the Lebanese capital in recent days amid a diplomatic thaw between the two sides.

Since late 2019, Lebanon has been grappling with a severe economic crisis, including a massive currency depreciation as well as fuel and medical shortages.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar