Hariri Telephones Bahraini King, Urges him Not to Consider Stands Taken by Any Lebanese Political Group

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri telephoned Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa on Friday stressing to him Lebanon’s support to the Kingdom’s sovereignty and stability.

He urged him not to consider any position taken by any political group in Lebanon as being the stance of the Lebanese state or its people.

“The Lebanese people insist on having the best fraternal ties between the two countries,” hoping the Bahraini leadership would not employ the repercussions of such unfortunate positions on Bahrain’s relations with the Lebanese residing in Bahrain or with Lebanon and its people, Hariri added.

“The Lebanese living in Bahrain, just like all Lebanese communities in the world, the Arab region in particular, respect, above all else, the laws of the countries they are residing in and they do not intervene in the internal affairs of these states in any way whatsoever,” he stressed.

King Hamad thanked Hariri for his position and promised to deal with this issue accordingly.

Hariri and the Bahraini monarch also discussed bilateral relations and the developments in the Arab world.

They also agreed that Hariri would visit Bahrain in the near future to bolster relations between the two countries.

Ties between Lebanon and Bahrain grew tense almost a month ago after the Kingdom condemned statements issued by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in which he defended the Bahraini opposition and criticized the Arab states for standing idly by as Arab governments suppressed protesters.