...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
’s top diplomat is expected to step down from his position this week, a senior Foreign Ministry official said late Tuesday, hours after the minister accused Gulf countries of supporting ISIS in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Charbel Wehbe, who is currently the foreign minister in a caretaker capacity, unleashed a reckless diatribe against Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were, to inclid Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...and the Gulf during a televised interview with al-Hurra on Monday.
Following public backlash from Lebanese officials, politicians and the public, Wehbe will now "probably announce that he’s stepping down," the ministry official told Al Arabiya English.
Beirut has already been reeling from strained ties with the Gulf due to Hezbollah’s increased influence and role in state institutions following the election of President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
, an ally of the Iran-backed group, in 2016.
Apart from his accusations, which he did not provide any evidence for, Wehbe also used racist terms to describe the people of Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait summoned Lebanon’s ambassadors to their respective countries due to Wehbe’s remarks.
The Gulf Cooperation Council demanded a formal apology from Wehbe for his comments.
Aoun appointed Wehbe to be the foreign minister after Nassif Hitti resigned a day before the catastrophic Beirut blast due to his frustration with Hassan Diab’s government.
A week after succeeding Hitti, Wehbe became a caretaker minister following the resignation of Diab.
It is unclear who will succeed Wehbe, who was the diplomatic adviser of Aoun before being tapped to head Lebanon’s foreign policy.