BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia announced on Friday a ban on imports
of fruits and vegetables from Lebanon, blaming an increase in drug smuggling,
in a measure that will add to Lebanon’s economic woes.
اضافة اعلان
Lebanon is already in the throes of a deep financial crisis
that is posing the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil
war. Its agriculture minister said the move was a “great loss” and that the
trade was worth $24 million a year.
The Lebanese foreign ministry said it had been informed of
the ban through the Saudi embassy and the foreign minister had relayed it to
top officials.
“Lebanese authorities must exert utmost efforts to control
all smuggling operations ... to prevent harm to innocent citizens, farmers,
industrialists, and the Lebanese economy,” the Lebanese foreign ministry
statement said.
The ban will take effect from 9:00am local time on Sunday.
Saudi customs authorities at Jeddah had foiled an attempt to
smuggle in more than 5.3 million Captagon pills, a type of amphetamine, hidden
in pomegranate shipments from Lebanon, said Mohammed bin Ali Al-Naim,
undersecretary for security affairs at Saudi Customs, according to Saudi
Arabia’s SPA news agency.
Saudi’s A
l-Arabiya TV also said overnight that with the help
of Saudi’s drug enforcement agency, Greek authorities seized 4.3 tonnes of
cannabis, stashed in dessert-making machinery, en route from Lebanon to
Slovakia.
Lebanon’s caretaker interior minister Mohamed Fahmy told
Reuters Lebanon was ready to cooperate with all states to stop drug smuggling
and that it had already been exerting “tremendous efforts” but that sometimes
smugglers might succeed.
One Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the ban appeared to be political.
“The export of Lebanese vegetables and fruits to the Gulf
countries and especially the kingdom was one of the few doors that were still
open to bring dollars into the country. Closing this import line increases
pressure on Lebanon,” he said.
A senior official at the Lebanese agriculture ministry said
there were no documents showing that produce used to smuggle
Captagon pills was
Lebanese.
Lebanon’s total exports to Saudi Arabia were worth 273.1
million riyals ($72.82 million) in the fourth quarter of 2020, official Saudi
data showed.
Lebanon’s foreign reserves have been depleted and its
currency has lost around 90 percent of its value since the start of the
financial crisis in late 2019.
Its economic collapse is being compounded by political
deadlock, with politicians unable to form a government to unlock much-needed
foreign aid.
Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, have so far been loath
to offer aid to ease Beirut’s economic woes, keeping their distance while
alarmed by the rising influence of Hezbollah, a powerful group backed by their
arch-rival Iran.
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