Lebanon asked Saudi Arabia to reevaluates the products Ban
On Monday, Lebanon declared that it anticipated that Saudi Arabia would review a prohibition on its products that Riyadh imposed with claims there is intensification in drug trafficking, and ordered its interior minister to coordinate with the Kingdom to reveal the responsible and avoid a repeat for that.
A statement by the presidency stated that Lebanon also requested its public prosecutor to continue the investigations about the issue and informed Saudi officials about results.
In fact, Saudi Arabia declared on Friday a prohibition on imports of fruits and vegetables from Lebanon, with alleges an increase in drug smuggling. The fruit and vegetables trade is value about $24 million annually.
Increase operations against smuggling
Before the gathering, President Michel Aoun demanded the security forces to intensify operations against trafficking after the Saudi ban. He also said: Smuggling of any kind hurts the country, Saudi ban on produce evidence of that. He also announced that Lebanon is keen to maintain the best of relations with Arab countries and protect their peace and security.
On his part, Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab stated that Lebanon is ready to fight trafficking networks with Saudi Arabia and that a ban would not prevent that.
He indicated: We are confident that Saudi Arabia and all the Gulf countries know well that a ban on Lebanese produce will not stop drug smuggling and cooperation between us will help stop these networks.
