Saudi Arabia lifts ban on travel to Lebanon

BEIRUT (AA) – Riyadh has lifted a year-old ban on travel to Lebanon by Saudi nationals, the kingdom’s ambassador to Beirut announced Wednesday.

At a press conference, Ambassador Walid Bukhari attributed the decision to lift the ban to what he described as improved security conditions in Lebanon.

Bukhari spoke to reporters after a closed-door meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Nizar bin Sulaiman al-Alula, a Saudi royal envoy currently visiting Beirut.

The Saudi ban on travel to Lebanon was first imposed in late 2017 after Hariri, during a tense visit to Riyadh, abruptly announced his resignation from the premiership -- a move he reversed two weeks later upon his return to Lebanon.