A statement made by Lebanon’s caretaker economy minister Amin Salam, triggered a diplomatic crisis with Kuwait after he urged the Gulf nation to fund the reconstruction of Beirut’s wheat silos, a statement which Kuwait said is “incompatible”.
On Wednesday, Salam suggested that Kuwait could fund the reconstruction of Lebanon’s main wheat silos, which were destroyed in the Beirut Port explosion three years ago, “with the stroke of a pen.”
In 1969, the silos were built with a grant from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah expressed Kuwait’s strong condemnation of Salam’s remarks.
He said that Salam's comments were "incompatible" with political norms on how decisions were made and urged the Lebanese minister to retract them to protect bilateral ties.
Furthermore, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Kuwaiti National Assembly, Abdullah Jassem Al-Mudhaf, said: “Kuwait is a country of institutions, and the Kuwaiti people’s money is not managed (with the stroke of a pen).”
On Saturday, Salam was quoted by Lebanese media as saying his comments were referring to how quickly the decision could be taken, but that he meant no offense.
For his part, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati issued a statement affirming Lebanon’s “deep and firm ties” between the two “brotherly countries”.
He said that “the sister state of Kuwait, has never hesitated to extend a helping hand to its brothers in Lebanon over the decades”.
He added that Lebanon fully respects the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of all countries.
