31 Oct 2021; MEMO: The Lebanese minister at the centre of a dispute with Saudi Arabia said on Sunday resigning from the government "is out of the question," Al Jadeed TV channel quoted him as saying, Reuters reported.
Riyadh on Friday expelled Lebanon's envoy and banned all Lebanese imports, in protest at comments made by Information Minister George Kordahi critical of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. Bahrain and Kuwait followed suit while the United Arab Emirates withdrew its diplomats from Beirut.
Kordahi says he made his comments about the war in Yemen before becoming a minister.
Oil-rich Gulf Arab states had long channelled funds into Lebanon's fragile economy. Alarmed by the rising influence of their arch-rival Iran's ally Hezbollah in the government, they have become reluctant to ease its financial crisis.
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the country's top Christian cleric, called on the authorities on Sunday to take a "decisive" step to end the row.
