Iraq recalls its ambassador to Lebanon: reports

BEIRUT — Iraqi authorities have reportedly recalled the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Haider Al-Barrak, after images circulated online of the envoy firing an RPG-style rocket launcher and posing next to armed men.

Here’s what we know:

    • After the images were widely circulated, Lebanese and Iraqi social media users called on the authorities to take up the case.

    • According to both Lebanese and Iraqi media outlets, the Iraqi ambassador to Lebanon was summoned to Iraq on Sunday by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    • L’Orient Today could not immediately reach the Iraqi Embassy in Lebanon on Tuesday morning for comment.

    • Four months ago, Barrak was also recalled to Baghdad after preventing a member of an Iraqi delegation from speaking to journalists during a visit to Beirut.