Manama: Bahrain’s foreign minister has criticised officials in Lebanon, accusing them of defaming their country through irresponsible statements.
Several Lebanese have, in recent days, claimed that their Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri was being detained in Saudi Arabia where he announced his resignation on November 4.
Although Hariri, who also holds the Saudi citizenship, insisted on several occasions that he wanted to spend time with his family in Saudi Arabia before returning home, Lebanese officials kept claiming that he was deprived of his freedom and that he was being held in Riyadh.
Some officials turned the case into an international issue launched an international campaign to rally support for their allegations.
However, Hariri early on Saturday morning flew on a private jet with his wife to Paris where he was received by French President Emmanuel Macron with the honours due to a Prime Minister.
Commenting on the developments, Bahraini Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa urged Lebanese officials to show more dignity in their stances.
“Allegations based on lies are short lived. Lebanon's officials must come up with facts or dignify themselves with silence. Their words are offensive to Lebanon and to the history of Lebanon,” he posted on his Twitter account.
On Friday, Shaikh Khalid also criticised Lebanon on the social microblog, stressing that its self-proclaimed dissociation policy was in fact mere words confined to the media.
Lebanese officials have been talking about "a real dissociation for Lebanon that means distancing itself from the conflicts in the Arab world and Iran's influence".
However, Shaikh Khalid said that the reality on the ground did not reflect such a stance.
"Lebanon’s dissociation policy does not exist and is mere words used in the media. The terrorist who fights abroad and trains the terrorists and arm them in our countries is the same one who is on the government and controls the decisions and policies of the Lebanese state,” Shaikh Khalid posted.
“Those who throw accusations of ‘detention’ and ‘kidnapping’ at countries that have been historically supporting the stability and prosperity of Lebanon are the same ones who sit with the kidnapper, the detainer and the master of all terrorists and share the ruling powers with him.”
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and its supporters had accused Saudi Arabia of kidnapping and detaining Hariri.
On Saturday, Shaikh Khalid posted that Hezbollah was conspiring against other countries from both Lebanon and Qatar.
One day earlier, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani drew a comparison between events in Qatar half a year ago and Lebanon today.
"Exactly what happened to Qatar six months ago is happening now to Lebanon," Shaikh Mohammad said in Washington.
However, Shaikh Khalid poured scorn on the comparison.
“What happened to Qatar is happening now to Lebanon? Yes, that is true,” Shaikh Khalid posted. “Hezbollah is taking it easy and having a free time in both countries and it conspires with their leaders to bring down states and to spread chaos,” he posted.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt severed their diplomatic relations with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting extremists and of funding terrorism.
