RIYADH: Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday it was sending an ambassador to Lebanon for the first time since a row broke out last year over the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen.
The foreign ministry "announces the return of the ambassador... to the sisterly Republic of Lebanon", read a statement carried by state media. A diplomatic crisis erupted last October after the then-information minister was quoted criticising the Saudi role in Yemen, where a grinding war has produced what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
George Kordahi, who has since resigned, said in a television interview that the Huthi rebels fighting Yemen’s internationally-recognised government were "defending themselves... against an external aggression".
He said "homes, villages, funerals and weddings were being bombed" by the Saudi-led coalition, and called the war in Yemen "futile". The Huthis are backed by Saudi arch-rival Iran, which has significant influence in Lebanon, where it backs the powerful movement Hizbullah.
In response to the remarks Riyadh recalled its ambassador and ordered Lebanon’s envoy to leave the kingdom. Its Gulf allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait followed suit, expelling Lebanese envoys. Following the Saudi decision, Kuwait also announced on Thursday the return of its ambassador to Beirut. The row, which has also seen Saudi Arabia ban the imports of Lebanese goods, was a blow to a country already in the grip of crippling political and economic crises.