Fahmi Expresses Gratitude to Saudi Arabia over Stuck Trucks

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia for allowing around 40 stranded Lebanese trucks on the Saudi border to enter the Kingdom, Fahmi’s press office said in a statement on Thursday.

“Caretaker Interior Minister Mohamed Fahmi extends his thankfulness to King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, and Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud for their kind humanitarian initiative allowing Lebanese products stranded on the border with Saudi Arabia and in Jeddah port to enter the Kingdom,” read the statement.

In the first Saudi move after the Kingdom’s decision to ban Lebanese fresh produce from entering its territory or passing through, the Saudi authorities allowed Lebanese trucks loaded with goods and stuck on the border to enter its territory.

Saudi authorities reversed their decision after contacts from religious authorities in Lebanon, including Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi, Grand Mufti of the Republic, and Fahmi who was authorized to address the newly emerging crisis between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia over drug smuggling.

“Fahmi was not surprised by the Saudi positivity, and he is certain that the Kingdom of Good will spare no effort to reconsider its latest position, mainly at this delicate stage that Lebanon and its people are going through,” the statement added.

The Saudi decision banning fresh produce came over a drug-stuffed pomegranate shipment.