Report: Jumblat Official Visit to Riyadh 'Optimistic'
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat held “positive” talks with Saudi officials over the weekend, local newspapers reported on Monday.
The three-day official visit was considered as an attempt to bridge the gap between the Druze leader and Saudi Arabia after ties worsened in 2011.
“The visit has opened the doors and that's what's important,” sources close to Jumblat told As Safir newspaper on Monday.
Jumblat returned to Beirut on Sunday night after talks with several senior Saudi officials including Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan and Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Second Deputy Premier.
Ties between the Druze leader and Saudi Arabia deteriorated after ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government was toppled by Hizbullah and its allies in 2011.
Jumblat, who is a centrist, played a major role in deciding the fate of the majority alliance that makes up the current Hizbullah-led cabinet.
The March 8 majority led by Hizbullah, backed by some of Jumblat’s 12-member National Struggle Front parliamentary bloc, brought PM Najib Miqati to the premiership after Hariri’s national unity cabinet was toppled.
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