Charbel Wehbe
شربل وهبة
Wehbe in 2021
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
In office
3 August 2020 – 19 May 2021
Prime MinisterHassan Diab
Preceded byNassif Hitti
Succeeded byZeina Akar (ad interim)
Personal details
Born (1953-07-15) 15 July 1953
Aqoura, Lebanon
SpouseDolly Rehaim
Children3
EducationLebanese University

Charbel Wehbe (Arabic: شربل وهبة; born 15 July 1953 in Aqoura) is a Lebanese politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in the Cabinet of Hassan Diab from August 3, 2020 up to his resignation on May 19, 2021.[1][2] He was appointed after the resignation of Nassif Hitti.[3]

Career

Wehbe who studied Mathematics and Law at the Lebanese University,[1] served as a Consul General in Montreal, Canada (1995–2000), Los Angeles (2002–2007) and an ambassador in Venezuela (2007–2012), in addition to several diplomatic positions in Egypt, Netherlands, Germany and Toronto, Canada.[4]

Controversy

In May 2021, Wehbe had an altercation with Salman Al-Ansari, president of the Saudi Arabia lobby in the United States, on Alhurra TV, in which he blamed Saudi Arabia for the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, emergence of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and finally tried to insult his opponent by calling him a nomad,[5] which caused an uproar on social media, and a comment from the Lebanese presidential office, that what he said only represented his personal opinion.[6] However, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates summoned the Lebanese ambassadors to their respective countries in retaliation. In the meantime, Wehbe said that he did not mean to offend "brotherly Arab countries".[7] He later submitted his resignation, amid GCC countries' demand for a formal apology.[8][9]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 "السيرة الذاتية لوزير الخارجية الجديد شربل وهبة". annahar.com (in Arabic). 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04.
  2. ↑ "Lebanon foreign minister quits after angering Gulf allies". reuters.com. 19 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Hussein, Yusef. "شربل وهبة.. ثاني وزير خارجية للبنان بحكومة دياب (بروفايل)" [Charbel Wahba ... the second foreign minister of Lebanon in the Diab government (Profile)]. www.aa.com.tr (in Arabic). Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 "السيرة الذاتية لوزير الخارجية الجديد السفير شربل وهبه". elnashra.com (in Arabic). 3 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Lebanese president seeks to avert crisis with Gulf over minister's comments". Reuters. 18 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "الرئاسة اللبنانية: تصريحات شربل وهبة "لا تعبر عن موقف الدولة"". Alhurra (in Arabic). 18 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "Saudi Arabia summons Lebanon envoy over minister's remarks". Al Jazeera. 18 May 2021.
  8. ↑ "Lebanese foreign minister quits over Gulf remark controversy". Arab News. 19 May 2021.
  9. ↑ "Lebanon's FM asks to quit after ISIL comments anger Gulf states". Al Jazeera. 19 May 2021.
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