...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 Saudis, to include 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...
that has seen the kingdom expel Leb
...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...’s envoy to the Gulf state and ban all Lebanese imports.
The row over critical comments made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi about the Arab Coalition military intervention in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
threw the government into a new crisis amid calls for Kordahi’s resignation.
If Kordahi resigns, ministers backed by the heavily armed Shia
Hezbollah group and its Amal ally could follow suit at a time when the government is already paralyzed by a dispute over an inquiry into the August 2020 Beirut blast.Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked Kordahi on Friday evening to consider Lebanon’s "national interest" but stopped short of asking for his resignation.
Kordahi has been publicly backed by Hezbollah and has declined to apologize or resign over the comments.
The crisis risks widening to more Gulf states, with Bahrain also asking Lebanon’s ambassador to leave shortly after the Saudi decision.
The Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
said in a statement on Saturday it was concerned about the souring of Lebanese-Gulf relations and appealed to Gulf countries "to reflect on the measures proposed to be taken...in order to avoid further negative effects on the collapsing Lebanese economy."
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit expressed "deep concern and regret over the rapid deterioration in Lebanese-Gulf relations...," the statement said.
Saudi Arabia has also recalled its ambassador to Lebanon for consultations.
Mikati has been hoping to improve ties with Gulf Arab states strained for years because of the influence wielded in Beirut by the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
In April, Saudi Arabia banned all fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon, blaming an increase in drug smuggling.
The ban added to the economic woes of Lebanon, already in the throes of one of the deepest financial crises in modern times.