UAE Official: Lebanon Paying Price for Deteriorating Gulf Relations

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash said in remarks to CNBC broadcaster that “Lebanon is paying the price for the deterioration of its relations with Gulf Arab states,” and that the UAE will not consider providing financial support except in coordination with other countries.

“The economic meltdown in Lebanon is very worrisome,” he said noting that the UAE will only consider providing financial support in concert with other states.

“If we see some of our friends and major powers, interested in Lebanon, working on a plan, only then will we think about providing assistance,” Gargash told CNBC in remarks on Thursday.

He said Lebanon is struggling with a deep economic crisis.

“We truly see a deterioration of Lebanon's Gulf Arab relations over the past ten years. Lebanon is partially paying the price for that now,” he said.

“We have seen an accumulation of problems in Lebanon, and we have also seen a dictation of political discourse by Hizbullah, which actually owns an army inside the state,” said the Minister, pointing to Hizbullah’s role in Lebanon.

He said the “UAE has repeatedly warned Beirut about deteriorating relations with the Gulf, and that if Lebanon burns its bridges, it will be very difficult for it to use the huge reservoir of goodwill and the huge reservoir of financial support that it needs.”