DATELINE BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has urged Information Minister George Kordahi to resign from his position for the national interest, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.

“I repeat my call for the Information Minister to use his conscience, assess the circumstances, take the necessary position, and give priority to the national interest,” Mr Mikati said in November. “I am planning on solving the row with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries,” he added.

“We will never allow this issue to be the subject of political bickering and we will seek, in cooperation with all the faithful people, to reverse the decisions taken by the kingdom in a way that restores the smoothness of Lebanon’s relations with its Arab neighbours,” Mr Mikati said. Lebanese-Saudi relations have worsened over the comments made by Mr Kordahi criticizing Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, Xinhua news agency reported.

In November, Saudi Arabia expelled the Lebanese Ambassador and banned all imports from Lebanon in protest against his remarks. Mr Kordahi had said in a televised interview recorded weeks before his appointment as the Minister that the Houthis in Yemen have been defending themselves in the face of external aggression for years.