Lebanese prime minister urges information minister to resign

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati makes a national statement on the second day of the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow on November 2, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 04 November 2021
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Lebanese prime minister urges information minister to resign

  • Najib Mikati called on George Kordahi to embrace his sense of patriotism and do the right thing
  • Kordahi's comments on Yemen sparked a diplomatic rift with Gulf countries

LONDON: Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Thursday urged Information Minister George Kordahi to resign from cabinet after he ignited a diplomatic rift with Saudi Arabia.

In a speech in Beirut following his return from the climate change conference in Glasgow, Mikati called on Kordahi to embrace his sense of patriotism and do the right thing. 

“I repeat calls for the information minister to listen to his conscience and take circumstances into consideration and decide the stance he should take,” he said.

Mikati said that Lebanon is eager to resolve its diplomatic rift with Gulf countries over comments made by Lebanon’s information minister surrounding the war in Yemen.

Kordahi has so far refused to quit over the comments, in which he said Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis were defending themselves and Yemen was being subjected to foreign aggression.

He said that his remarks were personal views made before he was a minister, and that he is committed to government policy

Last week, Kordahi triggered a social media frenzy when a video of him calling the war in Yemen “absurd” and saying the Houthis were defending themselves emerged online.

Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador from Beirut and expelled the Lebanese envoy. The UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain followed suit.


Book by jailed Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti set for November release

Updated 03 February 2026
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Book by jailed Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti set for November release

  • Prison letters, photographs and other documents to feature in the book

DUBAI: A new book by jailed Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti is set for publication in November, with Penguin confirmed as the publisher, The Guardian reported.

Titled “Unbroken: In Pursuit of Freedom for Palestine,” the book brings together a selection of Barghouti’s writings, including prison letters, interviews, public statements, conversations with public figures, and other documents and photographs.

It also features excerpts from his book “1,000 Days in Solitary Confinement,” which has so far only been published in Arabic.

Fadwa Barghouti, who wrote the introduction to the book, said she hoped it would allow the world to hear her husband “in his own voice, not through the noise surrounding him.”

She said in a statement: “This book finally makes that possible — and I hope it helps people understand who Marwan Barghouti truly is, and how he embodies the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity.”

Barghouti, who has spent over two decades in Israeli prison, is a member of the Fatah party. He has long advocated a two-state solution and is widely regarded as a powerful and unifying voice for Palestinians, with many supporters describing him as “Palestine’s Mandela.”

His detention has prompted repeated international advocacy efforts over the years.

In December 2025, an open letter calling for his release was signed by hundreds of celebrities, including Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith and Annie Ernaux; actors Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Josh O’Connor, Mark Ruffalo and Stephen Fry; and musicians Sting, Paul Simon, Brian Eno and Annie Lennox.

In November 2025, his family and several UK-based human rights advocates ran a campaign that included demonstrations and public art installations in Palestine and London.

Barghouti has been jailed by Israel since 2004, having been handed five life sentences plus 40 years for his role during the second Palestinian uprising. He has spent significant time in solitary confinement, has been denied visits by his family for three years, and has been denied access to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

His name was on a list of prisoners to be exchanged for Israeli captives in October 2025, but Israel declined to release him.