Lebanon minister resigns in hopes of easing crisis
Country in midst of economic devastation
BEIRUT – Lebanon’s information minister resigned Friday, saying he hoped the much-anticipated move will open the way for easing an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries. That crisis has added to immense economic troubles facing Lebanon, already mired in a financial meltdown.
Minister George Kordahi, a prominent former game show host, said he decided to step down before French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The resignation, Kordahi said, might help Macron start a dialogue to help restore Beirut-riyadh relations.
The crisis erupted after Kordahi’s televised comments aired in October that were critical of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. The kingdom recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports in response to Kordahi’s remarks, affecting hundreds of businesses and cutting off hundreds of millions in foreign currency to Lebanon.
The minister said he meant no offense with the comments, made before he was appointed to the Cabinet post, and for weeks refused to resign, prolonging the crisis. “Lebanon is more important than George Kordahi,” he said. “I hope that this resignation opens the window” for better relations
with Gulf Arab countries.
The diplomatic spat over Kordahi has aggravated Lebanon’s economic crisis, the worst in its modern history. The country’s financial meltdown, coupled with multiple other crises, has plunged more than three-quarters of the nation’s population of 6 million into poverty.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed Kordahi’s resignation, saying it “could open the door for tackling the problem with the brothers in the kingdom and the Gulf nations.”
The standoff with Saudi Arabia, a traditional backer of the small Mediterranean country, has further paralyzed Lebanon’s government, which has been unable to convene since Oct. 12 amid reports that ministers allied with the country’s Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group would resign if Kordahi goes.
The Saudi measures have caused
anxiety, particularly among the many Lebanese who work in the Gulf Arab countries, and added to the country’s economic woes.
Lebanon’s government is embroiled in another crisis triggered when Hezbollah protested the course of the state’s investigation into the massive Beirut port explosion last year.
Hezbollah has criticized Tarek Bitar, the judge leading the investigation, saying his probe was politicized, and called on the government to ensure his removal. Local media reported there were mediations to trade Bitar’s removal from the probe with Kordahi’s resignation.
Kordahi’s resignation came before Macron’s visit to Riyadh on Saturday. Macron backs Mikati’s government and has taken the lead among the international community in helping the small Mideast country.