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Lebanese minister says no question of resigning over Saudi dispute

October 31, 2021 at 7:41 pm

Lebanon’s Minister of Information George Kordahi speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on September 13, 2021 [ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images]

The Lebanese minister at the centre of a dispute with Saudi Arabia said on Sunday resigning from the government “is out of the question,” Al Jadeed TV channel quoted him as saying, Reuters reported.

Riyadh on Friday expelled Lebanon’s envoy and banned all Lebanese imports, in protest at comments made by Information Minister George Kordahi critical of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. Bahrain and Kuwait followed suit while the United Arab Emirates withdrew its diplomats from Beirut.

Kordahi says he made his comments about the war in Yemen before becoming a minister.

READ: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain expel Lebanon ambassadors 

Oil-rich Gulf Arab states had long channelled funds into Lebanon’s fragile economy. Alarmed by the rising influence of their arch-rival Iran’s ally Hezbollah in the government, they have become reluctant to ease its financial crisis.

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the country’s top Christian cleric, called on the authorities on Sunday to take a “decisive” step to end the row.