“With major turmoil brewing between Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and their allies, every event involving the two nations should certainly be seen within the context of bracing for a conflict…”
In an unprecedented event, the Maronite patriarch of Lebanon, Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, visited the Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last week.
According to reports, the Christian leader was invited personally by the Saudi king Salman Bin Abdul Aziz. The event underscores the changes that Saudi Arabia is undergoing under the new leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following his sweeping purge of political opponents.
Al-Rahi’s invitation came shortly after the start of the ongoing political crisis between the two nations sparked by the resignation of dual Lebanese-Saudi citizen Saad Al-Hariri as Lebanese prime minister. Many countries and other actors in the region have accused the Saudis of forcing the resignation of Al-Hariri, who is still mysteriously remaining in Riyadh.
What is the significance of the apparently power-hungry prince reaching out to the Christian leader?
Considering that adherence to Christianity is illegal in Saudi Arabia, which is widely acknowledged to be the only country in the world without a church, the invite of a Maronite leader is a huge step for the kingdom.
On the one hand, Al-Rahi’s visit is the first trip to Riyadh by a senior Lebanese official since the current political crisis began. Many perceived Prince Mohammed’s purge to be spearheading a program of major reforms he seeks to implement in the country, including fostering more openness to the outside at the official level.
Could the invitation of Al-Rahi be the first sign of this actually taking place? Considering that adherence to Christianity is illegal in Saudi Arabia, which is widely acknowledged to be the only country in the world without a church, the invite of a Maronite leader is a huge step for the kingdom. Al-Rahi’s trip to Riyadh could signal the crown prince trying to quell tensions with Lebanon while simultaneously putting into place his new strategy of building bridges with non-Muslim actors in the region.
There could be a darker explanation behind Al-Rahi’s visit, though.
The position that Al-Rahi maintains, the Patriarch of Antioch, is one that holds tremendous influence in Lebanon. Almost a million Lebanese are Maronites—slightly less than a quarter of the country’s population. Indeed, Christian leaders in the Middle East, and in Lebanon specifically, often speak out regarding their role in the course of Middle East events.
As Saudi Arabia has made clear that it is considering a military option in dealing with Lebanon, it is very possible that Prince Mohammed is probing the sentiments of a major power player in Lebanon to see how he and his followers would respond in the event that Saudi Arabia attacked their country.
Statements from Al-Rahi himself elude to this explanation.
Middle East news outlets reported from sources allegedly close to the Maronite patriarch that “Rahi will confirm with Riyadh his policy to distance himself from conflicts in the region.”
This sounds an awful lot like a commitment to stay out of the way in a potential war between the Saudis and Lebanese.
With major turmoil brewing between Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and their allies, every event involving the two nations should certainly be seen within the context of bracing for a conflict that still appears to be a real possibility.
