Saudi-owned MBC set to move from Lebanon over Kurdahi’s Yemen war comment

Cairo: Saudi TV network MBC plans to permanently close all its offices in Lebanon in protest against "offensive" remarks made by Lebanese Minister George Kurdahi over a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, Saudi newspaper Okaz reported.

The group will move those offices and their equipment to Riyadh, the paper added, citing unidentified sources.

Kurdahi has triggered an outcry in the Gulf countries after he said in recent remarks that Yemen’s Al Houthi rebels aligned with Iran were fighting in self-defence. His comment sparked diplomatic protests from several Gulf countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

MBC chairman Walid Al Ebrahim denounced Kurdahi’s remarks as “very strange, totally unacceptable and biased”.

Al Houthis plunged Yemen into a devastating war after they toppled the country’s internationally recognised government and overran parts of the impoverished country, including the capital Sana’a.

In March 2015, the UAE and Saudi Arabia co-led a military campaign in Yemen in response to a request from the government there.