Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi on Friday an-nounced his intention to submit his resignation in the hope of re-solving the crisis between his country and Saudi Arabia.
“I will announce my resignation at 1 p.m. this (Friday) afternoon, Beirut time (1100GMT),” Kor-dahi told the country’s private MTV channel.
The minister said he hopes the resignation will “open a door to resolving the crisis between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.”
He noted that he made it clear “since the first day” that he will step down from his post if it helps resolve the ongoing crisis between Lebanon and Gulf states.
Relations between Gulf nations and Lebanon strained over state-ments made by Kordahi on the Yemeni conflict before he took his post in the new Lebanese government.
When asked in a televised inter-view if he “thinks that the Houthis, like Hezbollah, are de-fending their land as an armed organization,” Kordahi re-sponded: “Of course they are de-fending themselves. … My per-sonal opinion is that this war in Yemen needs to end. Houses, buildings, villages, and cities are being attacked by fighter jets.”
Angered by Kordahi’s critical comments, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Lebanon.On Nov. 12, Kordahi expressed readiness to resign if there are guarantees that the Gulf countries will change their position to-wards Lebanon.
At the time, he noted that there are different views regarding his resignation and went on to accuse some Lebanese officials, without naming them, of trying to take advantage of his case.
Yemen has been engulfed by vio-lence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, in-cluding the capital Sanaa.
A Saudi-led coalition aimed at rein-stating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation and caused one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian cri-ses.—APP
