A Saudi citizen has been kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Monday, saying the incident "affects" Lebanon's relations with Saudi Arabia. "We have been following since yesterday (Sunday) with the intelligence services of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) the issue of the kidnapping of a Saudi citizen in Beirut," the minister said on his Twitter account.
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What happened affects Lebanon's relations with its brothers, and the perpetrators will be severely punished," he added. Mawlawi said he was in close contact with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari, without giving further details on the date or circumstances of the abduction. According to the Saudi channel al-Ikhbariya, the kidnappers demanded a ransom.
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Although this is not unprecedented, kidnappings of Arab and foreign nationals have been relatively rare in Lebanon in recent years. The last similar incident was in July 2022, when a Saudi man was abducted on arrival at Beirut airport. In April 2022, the Saudi ambassador returned to Beirut, a little more than five months after his recall by Riyadh following a serious diplomatic crisis opposing Lebanon to several Gulf monarchies, due in particular to the growing influence of pro-Iranian Hezbollah.
