Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari on Thursday called on the political parties to “put Lebanon’s interest first” as he criticized parties whom he said are trying to ruin Lebanon’s relations with the Arab countries.
“We recommend preserving diversity and the coexistence whose foundations were established by the Taef Accord, which is entrusted with national unity and civil peace,” Bukhari said.
He was speaking at a Bkirki ceremony celebrating the publication of the book “The Maronite Patriarchate’s Relation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, which has been authored by the abbot Antoine Daou al-Antouni.
“We urge the political parties to put the higher Lebanese interest first in order to confront the challenges that Lebanon is going through, including the attempt by some parties to tamper with the close relation between Lebanon and its Arab depth by trying to involve it other axes that contradict with the preamble to the Lebanese constitution,” Bukhari added.
“There is no legitimacy for the rhetoric of sedition, partitioning and fragmentation and there is no legitimacy for a rhetoric that overlooks Lebanon’s Arab identity,” the ambassador went on to say.