BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on feuding politicians Thursday to take action to mend a damaging row with Gulf Arab states over comments made by one of his own ministers.
The row, which has prompted Saudi Arabia and its allies to block imports from Lebanon, threatens to further deepen the country's financial meltdown. "We are determined to address the issue of relations with Saudi Arabia and other brotherly Gulf countries," Mikati told a news conference.
"I call on all parties to... take the necessary steps towards a solution and I emphasise the need for the government to resume work to make up for wasted time."
The row was triggered by comments made by Information Minister George Kordahi in a pre-recorded interview broadcast last week in which he characterised the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen since 2015 as an "external aggression".
The row has split Mikati's government with some ministers backing Kordahi in his refusal to resign and others calling for him to step down to assuage Saudi anger.
Mikati himself stopped short of asking for his minister's resignation Thursday but pressed him to "take the necessary measures and prioritise national interest" over partisan or populist considerations.
The prime minister did issue a thinly veiled jibe at Hezbollah, however, after the Shiite militant group announced its nominees would boycott cabinet meetings until the government takes a clear stand on the conduct of the official investigation into last year's devastating explosion in Beirut port.
Mikati condemned the "defiance and arrogance" that is disrupting his government's work. "Whoever thinks they can impose their will through political paralysis and escalatory rhetoric is mistaken," he added.
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