Bou Habib Says Saudi Daily Took His Remarks Out of Context

Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has described as inaccurate remarks attributed to him by Saudi newspaper Okaz, amid concerns that the leaks could worsen the current diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia.

Okaz meanwhile said it obtained Bou Habib’s remarks through its “private sources” and that the statements were made by Bou Habib during a meeting with a number of journalists.

“He tried to back down from them by demanding that they be concealed and not published, after his aides advised him to immediately retract them in order not to stir further anger among Lebanese citizens who are infuriated by his government, its policies and the confusion of its ministers,” the daily said.

“The office of the Lebanese foreign minister has tried to prevent the spread of the statements, pleading strongly with the journalists who attended the session with the tense minister so that they don’t publish the statements,” Okaz added.

In the remarks published by the daily, Bou Habib notes that “even when” Lebanon sacked ex-foreign minister Charbel Wehbe, “Saudi Arabia did not appreciate” the move.

“If we cannot disagree, I don’t want such brotherhood. Today if they sack Kordahi what will we get from the kingdom? Nothing! They will demand more things,” the minister added, according to Okaz.

Moreover, he reportedly alleged that Saudi Arabia’s “drugs market is the main motive behind the smuggling” of narcotics from Lebanon, “not drug dealers in Beirut and its suburbs.”

Downplaying the Gulf’s financial support for Lebanon, Bou Habib allegedly said that “the important aid used to come from the European Union.”

“As for the Saudi assistance, it wasn’t for the state. It was rather distributed in the elections and granted as aid to the High Relief Council after the 2006 (war). We don’t know how it was spent, but the state received nothing from it,” the minister added.

Apparently referring to Hizbullah’s presence in Lebanon, Bou Habib said: “The problem with Saudi Arabia is that if your brother is sick, you can’t tell him ‘talk to me when you are healed.’ I cannot heal and I cannot treat the disease.”

In a statement, the minister noted that the meeting with the journalists had been scheduled prior to the latest crisis that was sparked by Information Minister George Kordahi’s remarks.

“The aim of this interview was to seek the opening of the doors of dialogue and the elimination of flaws, in order to repair the relation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Bou Habib added.

“I wish the dear newspaper helped us in seeking a solution for this crisis instead of publishing narratives that are taken out context, inaccurate and would contribute to pouring oil on fire,” the minister went on to say, urging all media outlets to “be a means for mending rifts” and for “rapprochement between us and the Arab brothers.”