KUWAIT CITY -- Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri arrived here Saturday for talks with Kuwaiti leaders on a planned aid forum for Lebanon, his press office said in a statement.

Hariri, accompanied by Lebanese Finance Minister Fouad Siniora, will discuss "the situation in the region, the bilateral Lebanese-Kuwaiti relationship and preparations for the Paris II conference, which aims to support the Lebanese government's financial reform policy," the statement said as carried by AFP.

In July, France announced that a "Paris II" aid conference, the second of its kind to give financial support to Lebanon, would be held.

Hariri will travel to Bahrain on Sunday and the United Arab Emirates the next day to discuss their participation in Paris II. No date has yet been set for the meeting, but it could take place around mid-November, according to Beirut newspapers.

Hariri will also travel to Paris on Tuesday for talks with President Jacques Chirac on the forum, AFP reported.

On February 28, 2001, Chirac hosted Paris I with the World Bank and the European Union to help Lebanon avert a financial crisis.

Kuwaiti newspapers said Saturday that Hariri would ask the emirate for financial guarantees.

He is scheduled to meet with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Sunday.

Lebanon suffers from a public debt of 30 billion dollars, which represents 170 percent of gross domestic product.

The budget deficit is equivalent to 22 percent of GDP.

Paris II is expected to be attended by major Persian Gulf states, the EU and international financial institutions.

Lebanon hopes to raise five billion dollars through a combination of grants and soft loans, matching the sum Beirut is looking to make from a planned privatization program.