Saudi crown prince congratulates Salam on new government

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has congratulated Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on forming a new government, the Gulf kingdom's foreign ministry said Thursday.

"The crown prince wished the Lebanese prime minister success and the brotherly Lebanese people further progress and prosperity," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Lebanon's parliament passed a vote of confidence on Wednesday in Salam's new government, which faces the task of rebuilding after a recent Israel-Hezbollah war and implementing reforms to revive the country's stalled economy.

Salam was picked in mid-January to form a government after lawmakers elected Joseph Aoun as president.

The preferred candidate of both Riyadh and Washington, Aoun took office after Hezbollah was badly weakened by its war with Israel and the overthrow of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, shifting Lebanon's balance of power.

Saudi Arabia has recently renewed its interest in Lebanese politics after years of keeping its distance over Hezbollah's influence.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan met Aoun in Beirut on January 23, the first visit by a senior Saudi official to Lebanon in nearly 15 years.

Under a ceasefire that took effect in November, Hezbollah must remove its military infrastructure from southern Lebanon, while Israeli forces withdraw from the country.

Israel has largely completed its withdrawal but said it will remain indefinitely at five strategic locations within Lebanon close to the border.