The United Arab Emirates appointed Fahed Salem Said Al Kaabi as its new ambassador to Lebanon on Monday., LBCI reported
The UAE announced on October 30, 2021 the withdrawal of its diplomats from Lebanon ‘in solidarity with the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, UAE’S Minister of State, said the decision to withdraw the diplomats affirms the UAE’s solidarity with the Kingdom in light of the unacceptable approach of some Lebanese officials towards Saudi Arabia.
The UAE also decided to prevent its citizens from traveling to Lebanon.
Four Gulf states pulled their ambassadors from Lebanon in 2021 over a Lebanese minister’s criticism of the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen
The diplomatic row, which has also seen Riyadh suspend imports from Lebanon and both Kuwait and Bahrain expel Lebanese envoys, was another blow to a country already in the grip of crippling political and economic crises.
Lebanon had been counting on financial assistance from the Gulf to rescue its economy.
The dispute was sparked by the broadcast of an interview in which Lebanon’s Information Minister George Kordahi criticised the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.
In his remarks — recorded in August but aired in October — Kordahi called the seven-year war in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country “futile” and said it was “time for it to end”.
Kordahi said Yemen’s Houthi rebels were “defending themselves… against an external aggression”, adding that “homes, villages, funerals and weddings were being bombed” by the Saudi-led coalition.
The Houthis are backed by Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, which also wields significant influence in Lebanon, due to its strong backing of Hezbollah’s militant group.
The minister’s words have sparked calls for him to resign or be fired, while Hezbollah praised him
“Sack this minister who will destroy our relations with the Arab Gulf before it is too late,” Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said on Twitter.
Saudi Arabia also slammed Lebanon’s failure to “stop the export of captagon drugs… to the Kingdom, especially in light of the terrorist Hezbollah’s control of all ports.”
Saudi Arabia announced in June, 2021 that it had confiscated thousands of Captagon pills hidden in a shipment of Pomegranate fruit from Lebanon at a time when Pomegrantes were only available in Iran
Eventually Lebnaon’s information minister George Kordahi resigned on December 3, 2021 saying he decided to put national interest ahead of personal interest.