Saudi Arabia Tells Its Citizens to Leave Lebanon

[Mrs. Overall]

Source: Bloomberg

(AP) Saudi Arabia has ordered its citizens out of Lebanon amid skyrocketing tensions between their two governments.

A brief statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency called on all Saudis living in or visiting Lebanon to depart, and warned against travel to the country.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri shocked his country Saturday when he announced in a televised statement out of Saudi Arabia that he was resigning. He has not been seen in Lebanon since.

He said his country had been taken hostage by the militant group Hezbollah, a partner in his coalition government and a major foe of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia says it considers Hezbollah's participation in the Lebanese government an "act of war" against the kingdom.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said he will not consider the premier's resignation until the two meet in person.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-09/urgent-the-latest-saudi-arabia-tells-its-citizens-to-leave-lebanon

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Ugh

And the re-destabilization begins.

[SpankMe]

2. Seems ominous.

There's another section of the Bloomberg article saying some think Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia under duress. Something's going on here. I hope Trump stays on the golf course and lets the more competent souls in the Pentagon and State Dep't to field this one.

[PatSeg]

3. Oh good lord yes,

please keep Trump busy and quiet on this. That stupid mouth of his will blow up the entire planet.

[Aristus]

4. From a purely hardware point of view, Saudi Arabia has the advantage on the ground

over Lebanon. S.A. has the M1A1s and 2s we sold them, and a fairly well-trained ground force. Lebanon has some rickety old Soviet-made T-62s which were state-of-the-art in the late 1960s, but no match for modern tanks.

They are awaiting delivery of more modern tanks such as the German Leopard and the old US-built M-60. But so far, they're stuck with a force far inferior to that of Saudi Arabia.

[HopeAgain]

5. Saudi Arabia in a big move to consolidate their power in ME

All with Trump's blessing, I am sure.

[maryellen99]

6. This is not going to end well especially with someone like Trump in charge nt