[ad_1]
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expresses its strong disapproval of the “disgraceful and racist statements made” by Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe which offended Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, according to a statement released by WAM.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe threatened to stoke new tensions in a television interview on Monday, when he appeared to blame the Gulf for the rise of ISIS in Iraq and neighboring Syria.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation summoned the Lebanese ambassador to the state and handed him an official protest note denouncing these statements, stressing that they are inconsistent with diplomatic norms and are inconsistent with the historical relations between Lebanon and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Earlier on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry summoned the Lebanese ambassador in Riyadh and handed him a memorandum of protesting against the Lebanese ambassador’s “shameful comments” toward the Kingdom, the official SPA reported.
“Those countries of love, friendship and fraternity, they brought us ISIS,” he told al-Hurra without naming them.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation “of the disgraceful insults that [his] statements contained towards the Kingdom, its people and the brotherly Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries,” SPA reported.
The Kingdom’s foreign ministry reaffirmed that these statements are inconsistent with diplomatic norms and are inconsistent with the historical relations between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
“Given the repercussions that these disgraceful statements may have on the relations between the two brotherly countries, the Ministry summoned the Ambassador of the Lebanese Republic to the Kingdom to express the Kingdom’s rejection and denunciation of the abuses issued by the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he was handed an official memorandum of protest in this regard,” the statement on SPA concluded.
Lebanon’s president said on Tuesday the foreign minister’s critical comments about Gulf states did not reflect official policy, seeking to avoid a further strain on ties with countries that have been Lebanon’s allies and donors.
With Reuters
Read more:
Lebanese president seeks to avert further strain on Gulf ties over minister’s comment
GCC asks Lebanese FM to issue formal apology for ‘unacceptable offenses’
Saudi Arabia summons Lebanese ambassador over FM’s ‘shameful comments’
[ad_2]
Source link
