Did George Kurdahi Say ‘Iraq Was Better Under Saddam’?
Last October, Lebanon's former Minister of Information and TV personality George Kurdahi stirred a diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries after remarks he had made, describing the Saudi war in Yemen as pointless and deeming Yemen's Houthis as "brave resistance". Today, he sparks yet another debate but by a statement made in Iraq.
George Kurdahi, who had resigned from the Lebanese government several months after the Saudi boycott of Lebanon in the fall of 2021 has been on a visit to Iraq, one that angered many Iraqis for several reasons.
Former Information Minister George Kordahi: I was joking when I spoke a few days ago that the streets of #baghdad in the eighties were more beautiful than today. pic.twitter.com/3M8gvV3WyD
— OMAR MANSURI (@Omar_alMansuri) May 25, 2022
During the visit made this week by Kurdahi to Iraq to attend the 2022 Baghdad's International Bookfair, the Lebanese TV personality visited Shiite holy sites in Najaf, which has prompted questions by Iraqi commentators over his ties to Iraq's Shiite te political powers and possibly Iran, particularly as his political stances in Lebanon and in the Syrian Civil War seemed to match those of pro-Hezbollah and Iran.
Photos of Kurdahi, a Christian, visiting Shiite sites have gone viral online. But shortly thereafter, online communities exchanged conversations over Kurdahi's alleged endorsement of the Saddam Hussien regime, ousted by the US and its allies in 2003, based on an incident he had with an Iraqi man in Najaf.
Translation: "Has George Kurdahi converted to Sh??a Islam?"
Clarifying his statement, Kurdahi appeared on the Iraqi Al Rabiaa media network narrating an incident he said he encountered during this ongoing visit to Iraq, saying that an Iraqi man had approached him while in Najaf asking him about his opinion of Iraqi streets now compared to what it was when he visited it back in the 1980s.
?? ??????.. ????? ?????? ???????????? ?? ??????? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? pic.twitter.com/l1Gw8Q2AxS
— ???? ??????? - Al Rabiaa TV (@alrabiaatv) May 24, 2022
Translation: "Which is more beautiful? Iraq's streets in the 1980s or now? George Kurdahi jokingly answers"
Kurdahi said he "jokingly," told the man that Iraq back then was more beautiful, without referring to Saddam or any other political parties.
