Bukhari meets Mikati, says KSA doesn't prefer one sect over another

Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari met Monday with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

After the meeting, Bukhari said that Saudi Arabia does not prefer building ties with one sect in Lebanon at the expense of another.

"We hope that the political parties will prioritize the Lebanese interest in order to face the challenges and dangers that Lebanon is experiencing," Bukhari said.

Bukhari had met with Lebanese leaders in the past few days over the presidential crisis.

Last week, Bukhari had met with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, and Kataeb Party leader Sami Gemayel.

On Saturday he met with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, who said that the kingdom does not have a presidential candidate nor a veto on any candidate.

"Bukhari has assured all parties that the Kingdom is at the same distance from everyone and does not have any veto on any name," Jumblat said Sunday from Ain el-Tineh, after he met with Berri. He stressed on the need for consultations in order to break the presidential impasse.

Lebanon will take part in the Arab League's upcoming May 19 summit in Jeddah, in which Syria will also participate, after the group agreed to end a 12-year suspension and to bring Syrian President Bashar Assad back into the fold.