Lebanon .. Egyptian front with French, Saudi support against Turkey

Immediately after the explosion, international and regional political support appeared by the visits of senior foreign and Arab officials to Beirut, especially the French President Emmanuel Macron, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Germany and Iran, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and the US Deputy Secretary of State for the Middle East David Hale and others ... In the diplomatic scenes, there is a big decision to neutralize Lebanon - even if voluntarily - as much as possible from the intensity of the conflicts until the signs of the major settlements that are being worked on be clarified.

The follow-up circles are expecting the Egyptian role to grow more in Lebanon, which is acceptable to the majority of political forces and popular currents at the expense of the Turkish role which may not be absent altogether, but the Egyptian and Arab role will have a bigger, wider and more influential space.

In this context, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry visited Beirut and met with officials condoling for the victims of the explosion and providing aid to Lebanon although  his country is on the brink of war with Turkey in Libya, and also on the brink of war with Ethiopia because of al-Nahda Dam. He also came as Cairo with Arab capital have been repeating since years that the "Iranian expansion" has become a threat to the Arabs, but the Arabs do not see anything from each other in exchange for this good Iranian presence for some and bad for others.

Sameh Shukry came to build relief bridges and others political bridges, as Cairo will not limit its role to immediate aid, but will work for a longer term due to its great experiences in the fields of ports, electricity and reconstruction, but also in the criminal investigation of the port bombing.

In contrast to the concern about "Iranian expansion" in the region, the information indicates a feeling of French and Arab concern about the growing Turkish role in Lebanon and the region, especially in northern Lebanon and northern Syria, except for the expansion in the Mediterranean under the pretext of oil exploration, and because of the absence of the Egyptian and Saudi roles for Arab and regional crises and issues, including the issue of Lebanon a long time ago.

The information says: "The French President Emmanuel Macron contacted the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to urge him to directly intervene in Lebanon and restore the historical Egyptian role in dealing with Arab crises, as well as the positive historical Saudi role in Lebanon, which turned negative because of the Saudi position on "Hezbollah" and Iran, and on the advice of Macron, the President El-Sisi dispatched his Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry to Lebanon, in addition to the great humanitarian and medical support after the explosion.

Amid the increase in tension between Ankara and Paris, a war of statements began between the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the French President Emmanuel Macron, but this time in the Lebanese arena, as Erdogan considered that Macron had "colonial goals" in Lebanon, and described his recent visit to Beirut as a "show," while he considered that his country "is in Lebanon according to eternal brotherhood with the Lebanese people." The Turkish president added: "What Macron and his team want is the return of the colonial regime in Lebanon, but we are not interested in rushing to take photos or perform a show in front of the cameras."

Erdogan's statements come in an atmosphere of increasing tension between Turkey and France due to the conflict of interests in Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean, amid huge media coverage and a mass reception that Macron received in the Lebanese capital Beirut after the August 4^th bombing in the Beirut port.

The Lebanese reception to Macron prompted Erdogan to send his deputy Fuad Oktay to Beirut accompanied by the Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and a number of officials, immediately after the departure of the French President in a clear attempt to find a balance with France, and to show Turkey as a protector of the Sunni Muslims in exchange for France's protection of the Christians.

Political sources that follow the Turkish move in Lebanon consider that Ankara's bet at the present time is to fill the Arab void in the country in light of the deep crisis that Hezbollah is suffering from, and these sources confirmed that Turkey has a moral presence in Lebanon, but it does not realize that this existence does not mean that the Sunnis are loyal to it.

D.H