BEIRUT (Reuters) – Most wealthy Gulf Arab states have followed Saudi Arabia’s lead in recent years, ousting crisis-hit Lebanon over the growing influence of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Qatar was an exception.
Doha is quietly expanding its influence in Lebanon. It continued to host Lebanese leaders and pumped tens of millions of dollars to help the country’s military amid its historic economic collapse.
The small, gas-rich nation began to see the fruits of its investments in late January when state-owned Qatar Energy replaced a Russian firm in an international consortium to explore gas in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon. rice field. And on Monday, Qatar will meet for the first time in Paris with representatives from France, Saudi Arabia and the United States to discuss Lebanon’s political and economic crisis.
Qatar paints itself as a more neutral force in a country where outside powers have for decades used Lebanon’s sectarian divisions to wage a proxy struggle.Saudi Arabia has long been Lebanese Sunni Islam. has sought to drive Iranian influence out through the Shiite Hezbollah. The conflict has repeatedly pushed Lebanon to the brink of armed conflict.
Qatar, which has good relations with Iran, has tried to advance negotiations between Tehran and the Gulf states. Mohammad Bazi, professor and director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, said his participation in the forthcoming talks “is a signal that Iran will not be completely left out of the meeting, and an awareness of Tehran’s impact on Lebanon.” is,” he said. at New York University.
“As Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are reducing their involvement in Lebanon, Qatar is trying to restore its domestic intermediary role,” he said.
Still, Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world, rich in natural gas, and so far there are “few signs that it is ready to bail out Lebanon alone,” Bazzi said. .
Since late 2019, the Lebanese economy has collapsed due to widespread corruption and poor management. The currency has lost more than 90% of its value, leaving most of the population impoverished. International donors, including Qatar, are calling on the government to implement reforms to unblock about $11 billion in loans and grants. However, Lebanese politicians have resisted because the reforms would weaken their power in the country.
Qatar’s involvement in Lebanon is not new.
After her 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, Qatar helped rebuild several badly damaged towns and villages in southern Lebanon. Huge billboards have appeared across Lebanon reading “Thank you, Qatar.” In May 2008, after Hezbollah and its allies battled Western-backed rivals in Beirut in what was the worst fighting in Beirut since the 1975-1990 civil war, Lebanese politicians flew to Qatar, where they said: reached an agreement known as the Doha Accords. The deal ended his 18-month stalemate, a new president was elected, and a new government was formed. In the lull that followed, large foreign investment poured in, and Lebanon’s economy grew an average of 9% in his three years.
In December 2018, then-President Michel Aoun opened the newly renovated National Library of Lebanon in Beirut with his $25 million funding from Qatar. The mother of the current emir, Sheikh Moza bint Nasser Armisned, laid the cornerstone for this project in the heart of Beirut in 2009.
Saudi Arabia recently withdrew from Lebanon as Hezbollah gained power. For the past year, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a key Saudi ally in Lebanon, has looked a lot like him.
