Lebanon crisis
Saudi Arabia sees no purpose in engaging Lebanon at this time: FM
Ismaeel Naar
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Saudi Arabia does not plan to engage with Lebanon’s government at the current time, reiterating a call on the political elite to end what it called the domination of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group on the country’s political system.
The recent comments were made by Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan who spoke on the latest developments on the deepening political rift with Lebanon following critical comments about the Arab Coalition military intervention in Yemen by Lebanon’s Information Minister George Kordahi.
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“We see no useful purpose of engaging with the Lebanese government at this point in time,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told France 24 television in an interview aired on Saturday.
“We think that the political class needs to step up and take the necessary actions to liberate Lebanon from the domination of Hezbollah, and through Hezbollah, Iran.”
Late last month, Prince Faisal told Al Arabiya that there was no crisis with but rather a crisis in Lebanon due to the hegemony of Iran’s proxies.
“The problem is even bigger. The problem in Lebanon is the continued Hezbollah dominance of the political system, and the continued inability of governments, political officials and political leaders in Lebanon to take a way out of this crisis and from this tunneled crisis,” he told Al Arabiya.
Lebanon’s Kordahi said his comments during an interview on an Al Jazeera-affiliated show were recorded before he became a minister and has so far refused to apologize or step down.
Hezbollah’s leader last week described Riyadh’s reaction to comments by information minister Kordahi as “exaggerated” and accused Saudi Arabia of seeking a civil war in Lebanon.
Gulf states were traditional aid donors to Lebanon but, dismayed by Hezbollah’s expanding power, have been unwilling to help rescue Lebanon from a devastating economic crisis, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement.
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