Hezbollah urged Lebanese authorities on Monday to declare the US ambassador “persona non grata” after the envoy suggested those who had offended a senior Christian religious leader should leave the country.
The controversy erupted on Saturday after a video published by Lebanese television channel LBCI caricatured Hezbollah leaders and fighters as characters from the “Angry Birds” mobile phone games, triggering sectarian-tinged debate.
Hezbollah supporters condemned the video and what they saw as the ridiculing of their leader Naim Qassem, who is also a Shia cleric.
Some reacted by sharing images insulting Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, in a campaign that sparked broad condemnation and expressions of support for the head of Lebanon’s most influential Christian sect.
After meeting Rai on Monday, US ambassador Michel Issa said the visit was to show support for the patriarch and “express my disapproval for what happened over the weekend.”
“This is inappropriate in Lebanon… a country known for coexistence,” he said.
“I think the people who did this, Lebanon may be unsuitable for them, so let them look for another country to live in,” he added.
Hezbollah issued a statement from lawmaker Ali Ammar condemning “the blatant interference of the US ambassador in Beirut in Lebanese affairs and his call to push Lebanese out of their country.”
“The simplest measure that could be taken is to declare him persona non grata,” Ammar added.
After the controversy erupted, Lebanese officials including President Joseph Aoun and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, condemned attacks on religious leaders.
LBCI later deleted the video after being summoned by Lebanon’s judiciary.
Despite Lebanon’s relative freedom of expression compared to other Arab countries, the media, artists and comedians have faced harassment over work deemed by some to be offensive to political or religious figures.
The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has killed nearly 2,700 people and displaced more than one million others, has deepened divisions in Lebanon.
The Iran-backed group is accused of having dragged the country into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Add Comment