Saudi minister: not helpful to deal with Lebanon government
▶ Remarks that offended Saudi Arabia pile pressure on economy and could bring down Beirut government
Saudi Arabia will not engage with Lebanon’s current government for the foreseeable future, the kingdom’s foreign minister has said.
Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi caused a diplomatic rift when he voiced support for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, angering Gulf nations that back the country’s internationally recognised government. The row has raised tension between Lebanon’s Iran-aligned government and Saudi Arabia, as Beirut enters its third year of economic and political crises.
“We have come to the conclusion that dealing with Lebanon and its current government is not productive and not helpful,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan told CNBC. Continued engagement, he said, was “not really in our interest”.
He said the decision was made because of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s dominance of political life in Beirut and a failure by Lebanese leaders to enact reforms. Prince Faisal said former TV star Mr Kordahi’s words were only part of the problem.
“For us it’s broader than the comments of one minister,” he said.
“The political scene in Lebanon continues to be dominated by a terrorist group that arms, supplies and trains the Houthi militia.”
The US, most of Europe and the Arab League consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist organisation.
Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador to Lebanon for consultations, asked Lebanon’s representative in Riyadh to leave and banned all imports from the country.
The UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait also recalled their diplomats and asked Beirut’s representatives to leave.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International
Co-operation asked Emirati citizens in Lebanon to return home.
Mr Kordahi has refused to apologise or resign after Hezbollah expressed support for him.
The Houthis expressed support for Mr Kordahi. A spokesman shared images of a poster featuring the minister’s face said to have been put up in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
When Najib Mikati became Lebanon’s Prime Minister in September, he insisted in his first speech that restoring ties with the country’s allies in the Gulf was a priority for his government.
Three months later, Lebanon is facing another diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia, the second in six months.
Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi has upset Riyadh by saying that Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen were acting in selfdefence against foreign forces.
A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in Yemen months after the fall of Sanaa in 2015 after a request by the country’s internationally recognised government.
Mr Kordahi’s remarks have caused concern that the Lebanese political establishment is alienating itself from Saudi Arabia, a historic ally and a major investor the cash-strapped country cannot afford to lose.
“Lebanon was already at rock bottom and now it is isolating itself even more,” said Fadi Ahmar, a lecturer in Middle East studies at Beirut universities.
Mr Mikati and Lebanese President Michel Aoun have distanced themselves from Mr Kordahi’s remarks but stopped short of asking him to resign. They said his views did not represent the government.
Mr Ahmar said the deadlock may force the government to resign.
“There is a contradiction in Mikati’s behaviour. How can you mend relations with the Gulf but also cater to Hezbollah and its allies?” he asked.
Lebanon continues to face an economic crisis. Since 2019, its currency has lost more than 90 per cent of its value, pushing nearly 80 per cent of the population into poverty.
Saudi Arabia has a history of supporting Lebanon financially and politically, despite strained ties over the years as Iran-backed Hezbollah gains greater influence over political life in the Mediterranean country.
Riyadh helped to broker the Taif Agreement in 1990,
ending 15 years of civil war, and was a major investor in the country’s post-war reconstruction. The kingdom also bailed Lebanon out during a financial crisis in the early 2000s.
In addition to reconstruction funds, investment and aid, Saudi Arabia was a major source of tourism revenue for Lebanon in the early 2000s. The Gulf is still a major source of remittances for Lebanese reeling from economic collapse.
Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, a business tycoon who made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, brought the two countries closer during Lebanon’s war years.
After the conflict, tourists from the Gulf packed the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon during the summer, providing a major source of income for businesses.
Today they have almost completely vanished. Saudi Arabia has barred its citizens from travelling to Lebanon for security reasons.
Saudi support is widely considered by Beirut and western powers to be crucial to alleviating Lebanon’s economic collapse.
The kingdom was always Hariri’s first recourse as he sought to rebuild after the civil war.
In 2007, Saudi Arabia pledged $1.1 billion to Lebanon out of $7.6bn raised at the Paris II donors conference. It promised the same sum at the Cedre conference in 2018.
A year earlier, Riyadh and Kuwait injected $1.5bn into Lebanon’s central bank, saving the Lebanese pound from total collapse after a month-long conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
The kingdom’s support earned Lebanon’s political elite the confidence of western and Arab backers.
In 2016, Hariri’s son, Saad, led a unity government with Hezbollah that brought his country closer to the orbit of Iran. Lebanese-Arab relations have been strained since then.
That same year, Riyadh
suspended a $3bn aid package to the Lebanese Army, after Beirut refused to condemn Iranian attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
The economic collapse of 2019 eroded what little confidence the international community had in the Lebanese elite.
The country’s politicians are widely accused of corruption and mismanagement. Inaction has prevented the reforms required to unlock billions of dollars in loans and debt relief.
More than 16 years after
Rafik Hariri’s assassination by a Hezbollah agent, Saudi support is still considered crucial to Lebanon’s revival.
At the height of Lebanon’s energy crisis in July, the US and French ambassadors to Lebanon flew to Riyadh in a failed attempt to persuade the kingdom to become more involved.
Mr Ahmar said there was already little hope of Saudi support for Mr Mikati’s government. Mr Kordahi’s statement may be the last nail in that coffin.
He said Mr Kordahi should have resigned immediately to contain the crisis, but he was emboldened by Hezbollah’s support.
“To make things worse, the prime minister and president had a mellow reaction to Kordahi’s statement,” Mr Ahmar said. “The situation can only escalate now. They have made it clear that this is a Hezbollah government.”
Ties between Lebanon and the Gulf have been strained for the past decade as Hezbollah expands its influence in Beirut.
Mr Kordahi’s statement marks the second time this year that a Lebanese minister has criticised Saudi Arabia and drawn praise from Hezbollah.
The incident has cemented concerns in the Gulf that successive Lebanese governments have failed to curb Hezbollah’s influence on political life.
The Iran-backed group supports Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have launched attacks against Saudi Arabia.
“Hezbollah terrorists control decision-making in Lebanon, turning the country into an arena and a launch pad for countries that do not wish Lebanon and its people well,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
In May, Charbel Wehbe, Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister at the time, suggested in a TV interview that Gulf states were responsible for the rise of ISIS and made derogatory remarks towards their people.
He resigned following an outcry from Gulf allies and Lebanese politicians.
Mr Kordahi, who was a TV personality before becoming a minister, is known for his controversial opinions. He has expressed support and admiration for Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
His remarks about the Houthis prompted Riyadh to recall its ambassador to Lebanon for consultations. The kingdom gave the Lebanese ambassador 48 hours to leave and banned all Lebanese imports.
Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE have also recalled their ambassadors to Lebanon for consultations and asked Beirut’s representatives to leave. The UAE yesterday asked its citizens to return from Lebanon.
Mr Mikati has vaguely suggested that Mr Kordahi should resign. He said he told him by telephone that he should “appreciate the national interest and take the appropriate decision in the interest of Lebanon-Arab relations”.
Mr Kordahi remains in his role, effectively as the government’s spokesman, despite international calls for his dismissal.
How can Lebanon mend relations with the Gulf but also cater to Hezbollah and its allies?
FADI AHMAR
Middle East studies lecturer
After years of political and economic turmoil, the scale of Lebanon’s growing institutional failures is losing the capacity to shock. And yet, politicians in Beirut continue to invent new ways to deepen their country’s quagmire.
On Saturday, a video emerged of two senior government officials smirking and shrugging off responsibility for ration cards that were promised. Today, 80 per cent of Lebanese live in poverty.
Others show the dysfunction of the system. Last week, an interview recorded in August was released in which the current Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi expresses support for Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. His comments have triggered a diplomatic crisis with Gulf countries. Among other statements, Mr Kordahi claimed that the Houthis are “defending themselves”.
This claim is irresponsible for two reasons. The first is that it is untrue. It is an offensive simplification for Yemenis who are threatened daily by a violent group that seized their capital, Sanaa, in 2014, forcing an internationally recognised government into exile. Regional and western diplomats consistently draw attention to the group’s sabotage of peace initiatives. Every month there are signs that they remain committed to aggression. On Saturday, there were reports that the group shelled a neighbourhood, killing at least three children from one family. Contrary to Mr Kordahi’s belief, there are no grounds to claim self-defence.
The second reason is that his assessment jeopardises Lebanon’s most important diplomatic alliances. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain have recalled their diplomats. These relationships matter to its reputation on the international stage, but also affect its ability to serve people. Trade with Saudi Arabia, for example, has been suspended. Some of Lebanon’s politicians have expressed regret over the episode, re-affirming willingness to maintain strong relations with Gulf countries. In a tweet, President Michel Aoun suggested this could be done through more bilateral deals.
In Lebanon, what ministers want is not necessarily what the country gets. While nothing should get in the way of accountability, a misstep could dissolve Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s new government that took more than a year to form.
The ability to govern will require the re-establishment of trust. The behaviour of Mr Kordahi, who for years worked for Saudi-owned MBC group, will further undermine these fledgling foundations. He has so far not been held accountable, thanks to support from factions loyal to Iran. Potential donors will only assume that their worst fears about the country have been proven right, and vital development funding will never be accessed, delaying reforms and making Lebanon’s crises a permanent state of affairs.
But however difficult, this test is one Mr Mikati and Mr Aoun will have to face. If they cannot keep even the closest of allies on side, nor rein in ministers who endanger the country’s vital relations, then the wider government will fail the people it is meant to serve.