War in Yemen: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador to Lebanon
Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi refused to apologize for remarks recorded before taking office.
He then denounced Saudi Arabia's “aggression” against Yemen, qualifying the ongoing war “absurd”.
ANWAR AMRO AFP / File
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2 min
In Saudi Arabia, the remarks of the Lebanese Minister of Information on the war in Yemen and the implication of the Gulf countries in the conflict continue to make a stir.
The Saudi authorities announced in a press release Friday evening (October 29th) to recall their ambassador, Walid Boukhari, "
for consultations
".
A 48-hour deadline has also been given to the Lebanese ambassador to Arabia, Fawzi Kabbara, to leave the kingdom.
Bahrain followed suit by announcing in turn the expulsion of the Lebanese ambassador.
Other Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, could follow suit.
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With our correspondent in the Gulf region,
Nicolas Keraudren
For several months, relations between Riyadh and Beirut have deteriorated.
With these new decisions that the Saudi authorities say they “
regret
”, the kingdom is severing its ties with a historic ally.
This week,
Lebanese Information Minister George Kordah
i refused to apologize for remarks recorded before taking office.
He then denounced
Saudi Arabia's “
aggression
” against Yemen, qualifying the ongoing war “
absurd
”.
An affront to Riyadh which deplores the support of the Lebanese Hezbollah to the Houthi rebels.
In addition to these diplomatic announcements, Saudi Arabia also decided to suspend all imports from Lebanon.
Last April, the monarchy had already stopped importing its fruits and vegetables.
The cargoes were used to “
smuggle drugs,
” Riyadh said.
For Beirut, this is also a considerable shortfall.
Exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to $ 255 million last year.
That is about 6% of the total of what the country of the Cedar exports.
Bahrain follows suit
On Friday evening, the small kingdom of Bahrain, which has close ties to Riyadh, also gave the Lebanese ambassador 48 hours to leave its territory, Saudi TV channel al-Arabiya reported.
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Lebanon
Yemen
Saudi Arabia
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