JAKARTA - The militant group Hezbollah on Monday urged Lebanese authorities to declare the US ambassador as "persona non grata", after he suggested that those who had offended a senior Christian religious leader should leave the country.
The controversy erupted on Saturday, after a video published by Lebanese television channel LBCI caricatured Hezbollah leaders and fighters as characters from the mobile game "Angry Birds", sparking a sectarian-tinged debate.
Launching Al Arabiya from AFP (5/5), Hezbollah supporters condemned the video and what they considered an insult to their leader, Naim Qassem, who is also a Shiite cleric.
Some reacted by sharing images insulting the Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, in a campaign that sparked widespread condemnation and expressions of support for the head of Lebanon's most influential Christian sect.
After meeting Rai on Monday, US ambassador Michel Issa said the visit was to show support for the patriarch and "express my disapproval of what happened over the weekend."
"This is not appropriate in Lebanon, a country known for its coexistence," he said.
"I think the people who are doing this, Lebanon is probably not suitable for them, so let them find another country to live in," he added.
Hezbollah issued a statement from parliamentarian Ali Ammar condemning the "blatant interference of the US Ambassador in Beirut in Lebanese affairs and his call to expel Lebanese citizens from their country."
"The simplest action that can be taken is to declare him a persona non grata," Ammar added.
After the controversy erupted, Lebanese officials including President Joseph Aoun and Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri condemned the attack on religious leaders.
LBCI later deleted the video after being summoned by the Lebanese court.
Although Lebanon has relatively free speech compared to other Arab countries, media, artists and comedians have faced harassment over work deemed by some to be offensive to political or religious figures.
The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has killed nearly 2,700 people and displaced more than a million, has deepened divisions in Lebanon.
The Iranian-backed group is accused of dragging the country into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
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