On Saturday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Sa’ad Hariri came out strongly in support of Kuwait and its Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, following the totally unacceptable comments made by a pro-Hezbollah journalist during an interview with the militant group’s mouthpiece, the Al Manar channel.
The comments concerned Shaikh Sabah’s recent visit to Washington to hold discussions with United States President Donald Trump. Salem Zahran, the journalist, told Al Manar that the Emir was in Washington on a “medical visit”, but was only called in for a meeting by Trump after he arrived in the US. This was untrue, as talks between the two leaders had been announced much earlier.
Zahran made further allegations against Kuwait and its leader, saying Trump had told Al Sabah to cancel a multitude of contracts with Chinese firms worth $11 billion (Dh40.45 billion). He said the US “forced” Al Sabah to not only give the same projects to US companies for $14 billion, but also pay $50 million to a US law firm to handle the paperwork associated with the cancellation of the contracts with China. Kuwait has, of course, denied the allegations, accusing Zahran of trying to destroy the close ties between the two countries.
While such a campaign is only to be expected from Iran’s proxy in the country, Hezbollah, it also shines an unwelcome light on the state of affairs in Lebanon.
The country’s Public Prosecutor, Samir Hammoud, called for a probe into Zahran’s comments during the interview and for potential legal action. On Saturday, Hariri told the Kuwaiti ambassador that the comments on Al Manar did not represent the general public opinion, which values Lebanon’s strong ties with Kuwait and other Arab countries.
That may well be the case, but so weak has the central authority and the political system become in Lebanon that foreign adversaries of Arab states find it very easy to sow discord between the Lebanese and their Arab brethren.
It is a well-known fact that Hezbollah’s main reason for existence is to do Iran’s bidding in Lebanon, and in other Arab countries. The militant group, which is more powerful than the country’s national army and has always acted as a state within a state, has used its media platforms to promote pro-Iranian messaging and dilute Lebanon’s historically important role in the Arab world.
Hezbollah has managed to get away with this due to the political paralysis in Lebanon, wherein the state is too weak to uphold the importance of its relations with other Arab countries, especially the Gulf countries, who have always stood by Lebanon in its hour of need.
