Lebanese interior minister orders Bahrain opposition conferences cancelled

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi Thursday banned two Bahrain opposition conferences from being held near the capital Beirut to avoid aggravating a crisis with the Gulf.

Al-Mawlawi - who ordered members of a Bahraini opposition party to leave Lebanon in December last year – sent requests to authorities so that they can inform Al-Saha Hotel not to host the two conferences scheduled for 11 and 14 February.

The organisers had allegedly not obtained legal permits to hold the two conferences.

The hotel is located in a southern suburb of Beirut largely under the control of the powerful Shia militant group Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the Gulf Cooperation Council.

"These two activities, if they occurred, would offend Bahraini authorities and Gulf Arab states, and thus hinder efforts made by Lebanon to strengthen relations with the Gulf, in light of the Kuwait initiative..." said al-Mawlawi in a statement.

Assaha released a statement soon after, saying it had already taken the decision to cancel the events before the ministry's requests.

Lebanon has been embroiled in an unprecedented diplomatic rift with a number of Gulf states since late October last year. The Gulf has concerns over Hezbollah’s growing dominance in Lebanese politics.

They also accuse Hezbollah of supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen, which a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting since 2015.