Beirut
\nLebanon\u2019s information minister resigned on Friday saying he was putting the nation before his personal interest to help end a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia sparked by his comments.
\nGeorge Kordahi said he had quit before the French president visited Riyadh in the hope Emmanuel Macron would help ease the crisis sparked by the Lebanese TV host-turned-politican\u2019s critical remarks about Saudi Arabia\u2019s role in the Yemen war.
\nSaudi Arabia expelled Lebanon\u2019s envoy to the kingdom, recalled its ambassador to Beirut and banned Lebanese imports after Kordahi\u2019s comments which Riyadh said were a symptom of the wider issue of Iran-backed Hezbollah\u2019s grip on Lebanon.
\nSunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi\u2019ite Iran have long battled for influence in the region, including in Lebanon, which is struggling with a deep economic crisis and desperately needs financial support from regional and international donors.
\nOther Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, followed Saudi Arabia\u2019s lead with similar measures against Lebanon.
\nKordahi, a Christian whose Marada party is backed by Hezbollah, had refused to resign in the weeks afterwards even as Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked him to put \u201cnational interest\u201d first.
\n\u201cI understood from Mikati … that the French want my resignation to take place ahead of his (Macron\u2019s) visit,\u201d Kordahi told a news conference, saying he believed Mikati had assurances that Macron would discuss Lebanon\u2019s ties with Riyadh.
\n\u201cI refuse to be used as a reason to harm Lebanon and my fellow Lebanese in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries,\u201d he said, adding he wanted to prevent any punitive action against the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese living in Gulf Arab states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beirut Lebanon\u2019s information minister resigned on Friday saying he was putting the nation before his personal interest to help end a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia sparked by his comments. George Kordahi said he had quit before the French president visited Riyadh in the hope Emmanuel Macron would help ease the crisis sparked by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-230830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n