Samar Yahya

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Lebanese Consulate held a reception ceremony to mark the country’s 69th Independence Day in Jeddah on Thursday evening.



Consul General Ziad Atallah and his wife received guests and took photos with them.



Guests included consuls general and ambassadors of many countries as well as many Saudi and Lebanese businessmen, among others.



Atallah began by thanking all guests, consuls, ambassadors, businessmen and expressed happiness at being able to celebrate the first National Day ceremony since he was posted in Jeddah four months ago.



He added: “Today I’m very pleased to unveil for the benefit of the Lebanese community in Jeddah the newly developed website www.lebanonconsulate-jeddah.com and www.lebanonconsulate-jeddah.org that are being activated to mark Independence Day.



“Lebanese can log in and register and the website will serve as a hub for various consular services online.”



Atallah praised Saudi-Lebanese relations and said the Saudi leadership and people have never spared any effort to support Lebanon through its ups and downs.



Saudi-Lebanese relationships are distinguished by historically strong fraternal relations at official and grassroots levels, he added.



Atallah also revealed the construction of the consulate’s new premises in the Al-Basateen area, which will host the new consulate chancery, the consul’s residence and a Lebanese club that can host up to 1,000 guests for events and gatherings.



At the ceremony, tributes were paid to the love and brotherhood between the peoples of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, reflecting the long-standing relationship between the two countries.



A number of guests talked about the depth of historical links and ties between the two countries.



The ceremony began with the national anthems of Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.



Lebanese students at the event presented national songs and the famous national Dabca dance.



These were followed by a famous Lebanese song, sung as a solo.



November 22, 1943, marked the end of French colonization in Lebanon and era of renaissance in the country.



Atallah and Salem Ba Shehab, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Makkah, cut the celebration cake.



The consul general’s residence’s garden was packed with guests.



Some of the guests included Consul General of Oman Jumaah Al-Rashdy, Consul General of UAE Ahmad Mohammad Mangoosh, Acting Consul General of Turkey Fikret Ozer, Consul General of Palestine Dr. Emad Sha’at, Consul General of Sudan Khaled Al-Taras, Consul General of Algeria Saleh Atiyah and Egypt’s Consul General Adel El-Alfy, among other diplomats.