Saudi Arabia on Friday ordered the Lebanese ambassador to the kingdom to leave the country within 48 hours and stopped all imports from Lebanon, a response to abusive comments by a Lebanese minister, George Kordahi.
Kordahi had said that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis were defending themselves and described the yearslong war in Yemen as “futile.”
Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said Friday the imports decision was made due to what it described as Lebanon's failure to stop attempts to smuggle drugs into the country through Lebanese products.
"The terrorist Hezbollah is controlling all Lebanese outlets," the ministry said in reference to the Lebanese movement allied with Iran.
Saudi state media added in its report that the move will not affect tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens and their families who live and work in the oil-rich kingdom.
Hours later, the Kingdom of Bahrain ordered the Lebanese ambassador to leave the country within two days for the same reason, Bahrain’s foreign ministry said.
Shortly after Saudi Arabia and Bahrain gave their Lebanese ambassadors 48 hours to leave, Kuwait on Saturday ordered Lebanon's charge d'affaires to leave the country within 48 hours.
Kordahi made the comments in a television interview with an affiliate of the Qatari news outlet al-Jazeera before he was chosen for the role of ambassador in September. The interview only came to light this week after a video clip was widely spread on social media.
Lebanon’s prime minister and president discussed the Saudi decision and asked the country’s information minister to take the “appropriate decision,” an apparent call for him to resign in hopes it will ease the tension.
Lebanon's former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Friday placed blame for Beirut's rift with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries squarely on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
"The responsibility, first and foremost, in this regard, lies with Hezbollah, and its professed hostility towards the Arabs and the Arab Gulf states," Hariri said in a Tweet.
No comments:
Post a Comment