Arab League urges 'detente' between Lebanon, Persian Gulf states amid tension over Yemen war comments
The Arab League has called on Lebanon and Persian Gulf countries to de-escalate tensions following critical comments made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi regarding the Saudi-led war against Yemen.
Arab League Assistant Secretary General Hossam Zaki made the appeal at a press conference in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, where he is on an official visit to resolve the diplomatic crisis spurred by Kordahi’s comments criticizing Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.
"We do not want this situation to continue. We want a breakthrough, a détente in this relationship," Zaki said.
Following a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, he told reporters, "We hope the starting point for that will begin here."
On October 29, Saudi Arabia gave the Lebanese ambassador 48 hours to leave the country over Kordahi’s remarks.
The kingdom also imposed a ban on all imports from Lebanon and banned its citizens from travelling there.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait also recalled their envoys to their countries for consultations.
The Arab countries' decision was taken days after an interview with Kordahi was aired by an online show affiliated with Qatar's al-Jazeera television network.
Kordahi, in comments made on August 5, called the Saudi-led Yemen war futile, and said the impoverished Arab country is subjected to an aggression.
The Lebanese minister added that Yemeni army forces and their allied fighters from Popular Committees are defending themselves.
The interview was recorded before Kordahi was appointed as minister, but it aired on Monday.
The Arab League has already voiced concern about a rapid deterioration of Lebanese-Persian Gulf relations, urging Persian Gulf countries “to reflect on the measures proposed to be taken … in order to avoid further negative effects on the collapsing Lebanese economy."
Saudi Arabia and some of its regional allies, backed by the US and other Western powers, have been waging a devastating war on Yemen since March 2015 to reinstall Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and eliminate the popular Ansarullah movement.
The Saudi war, which Riyadh had claimed would last only a few weeks, has failed to achieve its goals, but pushed Yemen to the brink of starvation and famine, killed tens of thousands of innocent people, and destroyed the impoverished state’s infrastructure.
The United Nations has described the war on Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
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