Lebanese president: Kurdahi’s statements do not reflect the state’s point of view
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that his country is keen on the best relations with Arab countries, stressing that the journalist statements of George Kurdahi were before his inauguration and do not reflect the point of view of the Lebanese state.
The Gulf countries summoned Lebanon’s ambassadors and handed them protest notes that rejected and denounced remarks that insulted Lebanese Information Minister George Kurdahi.
In separate statements, the foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain strongly condemned Kurdahi’s remarks, which were offensive to Saudi Arabia’s and the UAE’s efforts to support legitimacy in Yemen and defend the Houthi terrorist militia.
The foreign ministries of the four countries described Kurdahi’s statements as “false allegations that are denied by documented facts and internationally proven evidence”.
On the popular level, Kurdahi’s remarks triggered a “tsunami” of anger on social media. Activists rejected the Lebanese Minister of Information’s justifications and tried to repudiate these statements without apologizing.
“Late on Tuesday, Kurdahi stirred controversy with televised remarks about the war in Yemen, defending Houthi militias.”
Despite a statement issued by Kurdahi on Tuesday evening, in which he said that he did not intend to offend Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and that his statement dates back to before his appointment as a minister in the Lebanese government, accusing some parties of being behind a campaign against him, in a reference to Al-Jazeera network, this did not lessen the impact of the statements.
Despite Kurdahi’s claim that the government was not bound by his statements, the Lebanese information minister’s options are limited and he awaits a “final answer” about his fate in office, similar to that of Charbel Wahbe, the foreign minister in Hassane Diab’s previous government.
