Okaz/Saudi Gazette

BEIRUT — The Lebanese official and popular circles have condemned an audio recording in which a person threatened the Saudi embassy in Lebanon with an act of terrorism.

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Al-Bukhari shared a tweet in which he said: “Terrorism is the product of extremism, its roots and seeds begin with the frustrated mind.” Bukhari reposted tweets of Lebanese politicians and analysts warning of threats to target the Saudi embassy. They called on the Lebanese security services to secure and protect it and take the necessary measures towards verifying the seriousness of the threats.

Lebanese Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi, who is also head of the Central Internal Security Council, called on the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces to conduct the necessary investigations and arrest those who are involved in this. He ordered to take the necessary measures as quickly as possible and refer the suspects to the judiciary.

Mawlawi also called on the General Directorate of Public Security to notify him of the movement schedule for the entry and exit of all those, who are found to be involved, in and out of Lebanon, stressing that “this statement comes in the interest of Lebanon, its security and safety as well as its good relations with brotherly countries, especially Saudi Arabia.”

The statement noted that the information available with the Ministry of Interior and municipalities suggest that the owner of the circulating audio recording is a Saudi national. The Lebanese interior ministry statement said that the man was “wanted by the Saudi authorities for terrorist crimes.”

In the audio recording, the man, who is supposed to be a Saudi national living in Beirut’s southern suburbs, says that if anything happens to any member of his family, “no employee at the Saudi embassy will remain alive... I will annihilate everyone in the Saudi embassy, everyone who is related to the Saudi embassy.”