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Saudi Arabia dramatically escalates dispute over Lebanese minister’s Yemen remarks

Saudi Arabia dramatically escalates dispute over Lebanese minister’s Yemen remarks

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., 2018 (Source: Kathryn E. Holm/Wikimedia Commons)

BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Beirut, ordered the Lebanese ambassador in the kingdom to leave the country within 48 hours, and banned all imports from Lebanon.

Here’s what we know:

    • In a Friday night statement published by Saudi Press Agency, the official Saudi news agency, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted the “offensive statements” made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kurdahi on Aug. 5 in an interview for the television program “Barlaman Sha3b,” which were broadcast this week. Kurdahi called the war in Yemen “absurd” and said that the Houthis are “just defending themselves and not attacking anyone.”

    • Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati were quick to distance the Lebanese government from the comments, saying that they don’t represent the government’s official position and noting that Kurdahi was not yet a minister at the time of the remarks.

    • Earlier this week Saudi Arabia gave a formal objection note to Lebanon’s ambassador to the kingdom and called for Kurdahi to be removed from his position, a demand Kurdahi vowed he would resist.

    • Political parties in Lebanon jumped into the fray, with Hezbollah calling Kurdahi’s statements “brave” and denouncing the Saudi request for his ouster as an assault on Lebanon’s sovereignty. The Future Movement of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri responded by calling Hezbollah’s show of support an “excessive interference in the internal affairs of Arab nations in line with Iran’s political goals.”

    • Earlier Friday reports in Saudi media emerged that MBC, the Arab world’s largest private media conglomerate and Kurdahi’s former employer, would cease operations in Lebanon, partly as part of a broader effort to centralize its work in Riyadh and partly in response to Kurdahi’s statements.

    • In announcing the new ban on all imports from Lebanon, the Saudi Foreign Ministry blasted the country’s “failure to to take the measures demanded by the Kingdom to stop the export of the scourge of drugs.” Saudi Arabia banned agricultural imports in April, after it said it had intercepted drug shipments hidden in Lebanese agricultural products. The ban has been a heavy blow to already struggling Lebanese farmers.

    • The Saudi government emphasized its ban on its citizens travelling to Lebanon.

    • The Saudi government has been militarily involved in Yemen since March 2015. 

BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Beirut, ordered the Lebanese ambassador in the kingdom to leave the country within 48 hours, and banned all imports from Lebanon.Here’s what we know:    • In a Friday night statement published by Saudi Press Agency, the official Saudi news agency, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted the “offensive statements”...