Bahrain urges citizens in Lebanon to leave, Yemeni gov’t recalls envoy

CAIRO (Reuters) – Bahrain’s foreign ministry on Tuesday urged citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately, the state news agency reported, amid a deepening row over comments by a Lebanese minister that were critical of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia expelled Lebanon’s envoy and banned all Lebanese imports on Friday. Bahrain and Kuwait followed suit. Yemen’s Saudi-backed government also recalled its ambassador to Beirut on Tuesday for consultations, the state news agency SABA reported, over the comments made by George Kordahi before he became Lebanese information minister.

In an interview he said was recorded on Aug. 5, before the formation of a new Lebanese government, Kordahi called the Yemeni war futile, said Yemen was subjected to an aggression and that its Iran-aligned Houthis were defending themselves. A coalition of forces led by Riyadh intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital Sanaa.

The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.