Saudi dissident threatens to attack Saudi embassy in Beirut

In an audio recording circulating on social media, Beirut-based Saudi dissident Ali Hashem has threatened to attack the Saudi embassy in Beirut should Saudi authorities continue to “harass” his family back in the kingdom.

“If anyone touches any member of my family, no employee at the Saudi embassy will remain alive. I will carry out an unprecedented act and I will annihilate every person at the embassy and you know my capabilities very well,” Hashem says in the recording.

Addressing Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari, Hashem says: “Lebanon is not a Saudi or Gulf emirate so that you demand that I be handed over to Saudi Arabia. The Lebanese constitution allows us to express our opinion freely and offers us protection.”

Bukhari hit back via Twitter, saying: “Terrorism is the offspring of extremism. Its roots and seeds begin in the depressed mind.” Bukhari later retweeted some posts that condemned the threats against the Saudi embassy.

Hashem had announced in early August that due to his “opposition to the Yemen war” and his defense of “the rights of Shiites in Saudi Arabia,” his children were put under house arrest in the kingdom, “all their services were suspended” and they faced “harassment.”

“Through its actions, the Saudi regime thinks that it can deter me from my activities, but I swear to God that today I’m stronger and more determined to seek to topple the regime of the House of Saud,” Hashem added.

Lebanese MP Fouad Makhzoumi meanwhile warned that “the circulated reports about a terrorist action against the Saudi embassy require the alertness of security agencies and an immediate action to follow up on the matter and verify the accuracy of the information in order to avoid a human catastrophe.”

“The person threatening is known by name and identity and the efforts of all security agencies must be unified to arrest him,” Makhzoumi added.