Charbel Wehbe


Charbel Wehbe is a Lebanese politician and diplomat who served as Ministry of [Foreign Affairs and Emigrants (Lebanon)|Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants] in the Cabinet of Hassan Diab from August 3, 2020 up to his resignation on May 19, 2021. He was appointed after the resignation of Nassif Hitti.

Career

Wehbe who studied Mathematics and Law at the Lebanese University, served as a Consul General in Montreal, Canada, Los Angeles and an ambassador in Venezuela, in addition to several diplomatic positions in Egypt, Netherlands, Germany and Toronto, Canada.

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 Islamic [State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS] in Syria and Iraq, and finally tried to insult his opponent by calling him a nomad, which caused an uproar on social media, and a comment from the Lebanese presidential office, that what he said only represented his personal opinion. 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". He later submitted his resignation, amid GCC countries' demand for a formal apology.

Awards