The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lebanese Parliament has condemned caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe‘s comments about the Arab Gulf countries.
The Committee discussed Wehbe‘s highly controversial remarks in a meeting on Tuesday.
MP George Okais, a member of the Committee, has revealed in a tweet that he had called for Wehbe‘s questioning during the meeting, “in preparation for taking possible constitutional measures against a minister in a resigned government, given the extent of the damage he has caused to Lebanon’s interest and to its relations with brotherly Arab countries.”
The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, MP Yassine Jaber, commented on the matter following the meeting.
He stressed that Wehbe‘s comments do not represent Lebanon’s official position nor its foreign policy toward the Arab countries. “The Committee, with all its members, stands in solidarity and denounces these statements.”
“We are in dire need of solidarity with Lebanon, which is a confronted state that is exposed at any moment to Israeli attacks, and needs all its brothers in the Arab world to be on its side.”
Jaber noted that Lebanon is also facing economic and financial collapse. He noted that “one of the arteries of the financial and economic life in Lebanon” is from the Lebanese people working in these countries.
The MP described as “surprising” the position of caretaker Minister Wehbe and its timing, considering that “the Arab world is witnessing at this stage reconciliation and strengthening of Arab-Arab relations.”
Wehbe has been facing waves of backlash after implying during a recent TV appearance that Arab Gulf countries were behind the rise and the spread of ISIS in the region.
Saudi Arabia‘s Foreign Affairs Ministry has just issued an official statement “strongly” condemning Wehbe‘s offensive comments, deeming them “an attack” on the Saudi Kingdom and its people.
It has accordingly summoned the Lebanese Ambassador in Riyadh to receive the official complaint.
