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Saturday 27 Feb 2016 - 14:31 Makkah mean time-18-5-1437
 Riyadh (IINA) – Saudi Arabia on Friday blacklisted four companies and three Lebanese men for having links to Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of Riyadh’s arch regional adversary Iran.
“The Kingdom will continue its fight against the terrorist activities of the so-called Hezbollah with all available means,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency SPA. Saudi Arabia last week suspended aid worth $3 billion to the Lebanese army over the Beirut government’s failure to sign up to statements condemning attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.The ministry identified the four companies as Vatech SARL, Le-Hua Electronics Field Co. Limited, Aero Skyone Co. Limited and Labico SAL Offshore, and the men as Fadi Hussein Serhan, Adel Mohamad Cherri and Ali Zeaiter.The statement did not elaborate. It was not known what effect Riyadh’s blacklisting had on the companies’ activities or whether they had business in the Kingdom.
Last year, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the same firms and men as “Hezbollah procurement agents…responsible for providing material support to enhance the group’s military and terrorist capabilities”. This week, Saudi Arabia called on its citizens not to travel to Lebanon for safety reasons and ordered those staying there to leave. Its Gulf allies Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar predictably followed suit, issuing similar warnings. The United Arab Emirates also banned its citizens from traveling to Lebanon and withdrew a number of diplomats from the country. Lebanon’s political elite is deeply divided between two powerful Saudi and Iran-backed coalitions. The spat has exacerbated divisions among Lebanon’s notoriously fractious politicians, who traded accusations over the billions of dollars lost. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 and parliament has failed to elect a new head of state because of lack of a quorum.
Concerns have been sparked that further steps could be taken by Saudi Arabia and its neighbors, such as Gulf airlines halting flights to Beirut or the eviction of thousands of Lebanese who work in the oil-rich region, a move that would have a devastating effect on Lebanon’s crumbling economy. There are some half a million Lebanese living in the Gulf. They transfer billions of dollars to their home country in remittances, giving a boost to Lebanon’s economy, which has among the highest debt in the world — currently standing at $70 billion or 145 per cent of GDP. Lebanese economist Louis Hobeika said the eviction of Lebanese migrant workers in the Gulf would be the most damaging move Saudi could make. Yet, he suggested that such retaliation would be mutually harmful. “Lebanese hold key positions in companies and it is not very easy to replace him,” he said.
Media reports in Beirut say some worried citizens were changing their accounts in Lebanese pounds to US dollars but officials say people should not worry about the pound since the Central Bank can defend it with its $40 billion foreign currency reserves. Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh told the daily Al-Akhbar that “markets did not show any fears and were very normal this week.”
HA/IINA
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