It comes less than two weeks after Saudi Arabia cut $4 billion in aid to Lebanese security forces.
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Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir held Wednesday a press conference at the conclusion of the meeting of the Ministerial Council of Foreign Ministers of the Gulf cooperation Council (GCC) with the foreign ministers of Jordan and Morocco at the headquarters of the Council secretariat in Riyadh.
Protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and Saudi consulate in Mashhad following Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric on terrorism charges. Pakistani role in 34-country military alliance will also remain unchanged.
The Arab League meeting on Friday also condemned what it described as continued Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Bahrain, the statement said, adding that Hezbollah, along with the Iranian revolutionary guard, financed and trained terrorist groups in Bahrain.
It also brings the league in line with the United States, which is closely allied with the Gulf states and has long considered Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization.
Taking place near Hafr al-Batin city in northeastern Saudi Arabia, close to the Kuwaiti and Iraq borders, the manoeuvres are the “most important and largest in the region’s history ” , according to Saudi authorities”.
A number of Arab states, particularly Gulf countries, have taken measures against Hezbollah which supports Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
Later in remarks to Egypt’s CBC Extra television, Jaafari praised Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for “facing up to terrorism and Israel with courage ” .On March 2, the GCC – which also includes Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – declared Hezbollah a “terrorist” group.
Hezbollah is a key political and military force in Lebanon, and is involved in the conflict in Syria. On its main evening newscast, the group’s Al-Manar TV reported on al-Jaafari’s speech at the Arab League meeting without commenting on the league designation against Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah is a Lebanese party that enjoys broad representation in the parliament and Cabinet”.
He repeated his accusations that the kingdom was directly responsible for some auto bombings in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and denounced Saudi “massacres” in Yemen, where the kingdom is leading a U.S.-backed coalition of Arab states targeting Iran-supported Shiite rebels.
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Sudan’s military has announced that President Omar al-Bashir will attend the closing ceremony of a military exercise in Saudi Arabia today.
