RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held talks with Lebanon’s Maronite Christian Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai here on Tuesday.
Al-Rahi earlier met with Saudi King Salman on the second day of his first visit to Saudi Arabia.
He also held talks with Saad Al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as prime minister of Lebanon from Riyadh on Nov. 4.
Al-Rahi said Hariri will return home as soon as possible and that he supports Hariri’s reasons for resigning, according to media reports.
Hariri announced his resignation in a television broadcast, saying he believed there was an assassination plot against him and accused Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.
Lebanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Abdul Sattar Issa, said the patriarch’s visit demonstrated the important steps taken by Saudi Arabia to modernize its institutions and to reinforce perceptions of Islam as a religion of moderation.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch
Spanish family missing after tourist boat sinks in Indonesia
JAKARTA: A Spanish family of four is missing after a tourist boat sank in Indonesia, state news agency Antara reported Saturday.
The vessel was carrying 11 people when it sank in the Padar Island Strait near the popular destination of Labuan Bajo on Friday night, Antara said.
Seven people including two Spanish tourists, four crew members and a tour guide were rescued.
A search for the remaining four was continuing on Saturday.
The Labuan Bajo port authority attributed the sinking to high waves of up to three meters (10 feet), Antara said.
“This made it difficult for us to carry out the initial search,” port authority chief Stephanus Risdiyanto told the agency.
Padar Island was closed to tourists on Saturday due to extreme weather conditions.
Marine accidents occur regularly in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, often due to lax safety standards and bad weather.
The vessel was carrying 11 people when it sank in the Padar Island Strait near the popular destination of Labuan Bajo on Friday night, Antara said.
Seven people including two Spanish tourists, four crew members and a tour guide were rescued.
A search for the remaining four was continuing on Saturday.
The Labuan Bajo port authority attributed the sinking to high waves of up to three meters (10 feet), Antara said.
“This made it difficult for us to carry out the initial search,” port authority chief Stephanus Risdiyanto told the agency.
Padar Island was closed to tourists on Saturday due to extreme weather conditions.
Marine accidents occur regularly in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, often due to lax safety standards and bad weather.
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