Posters Mocking Saudi King in Response to al-Rahi's Caricature
The Internal Security Forces removed on Tuesday posters mocking Saudi King Abdullah in a move considered as a response to a caricature published in a Saudi newspaper on Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.
According to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) the posters were erected in the areas of Jal el-Dib and Fanar.
The posters portrayed the Saudi King as the king of spades holding in his hand a sword stained with blood.
Later, General Prosecutor Jude Hatem Madi tasked the Central Criminal Investigations Bureau to carry out an investigation to find those behind the posters.
Several users on the Social Networking websites said that fliers were being distributed on passers-by on the streets depicting the posters.
Last week, Saudi al-Watan newspaper apologized for a caricature it published of al-Rahi in light of his visit to Syria on February 9 and 10.
It said that it did not mean to insult a religious figure, but it only expressed an opinion over his trip to Syria.
The daily later published an apologetic caricature of Lebanon, portraying it as a center of religious diversity between Muslims and Christians.
Al-Rahi's caricature had replaced his mitre with a rocket and highlighted the common letters between the patriarch and Syrian President Bashar Assad's names in Arabic.
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri had condemned the caricature, saying that the kingdom respects the patriarch and values his efforts to fortify Lebanese national unity.
Al-Rahi had visited Syria to attend the enthronement of Greek Orthodox leader Youhanna X Yazigi at the Church of the Holy Cross in Qassaa.
* The picture was obtained from Social Networking websites.
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