UAE to reopen embassy in Lebanon after more than three years

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By Jana Choukeir and Maya Gebeily

DUBAI/BEIRUT (Reuters) -A high-level United Arab Emirates delegation was in Lebanon on Monday to make arrangements for the reopening of the Gulf Arab state’s embassy in Beirut after more than three years, state news agency WAM reported.

The UAE withdrew its diplomats from Lebanon and closed the embassy in October 2021, aligning with Saudi Arabia after Lebanon’s then-information minister criticised the Saudi-led coalition’s involvement in Yemen.

The Saudi foreign minister at the time pointed to Hezbollah’s dominance over Lebanese politics. Most of the group’s top leadership has been killed since then and many of its strongholds across Lebanon lie in ruins after a more than a year-long war with Israel.

The delegation arrived on Sunday, a day after UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun agreed to take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy.

“The reopening reflects the UAE’s keenness to support stability and development in Lebanon, and its steadfast commitment to providing comprehensive support to the Lebanese people across various sectors,” the UAE foreign ministry said.

Aoun has said that countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia are open to reestablishing diplomatic ties, Lebanese deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab said in a televised speech.

“The UAE will reopen its embassy very soon… thus there is hope for us to start a new page in Lebanon,” Bou Saab said.

Lebanon agreed last week to extradite Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, son of the late Muslim cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi, to the UAE.

An Egyptian-Turk, he was arrested in Lebanon following critical remarks about the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt in an online video, according to his lawyer and Amnesty International.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut and Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Timothy Heritage)