“Security measures have been increased...and all the security agencies are on alert ...especially after the latest threats” against the Saudi and UAE ambassadors, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after a cabinet meeting.

Recent arrests of suspects in Lebanon “have helped the army and the internal security forces prevent dangerous acts by groups in several areas” across the country, he said, without giving more details.

Saudi Ambassador Abdel Aziz Khoja, whose country is a leading supporter of Lebanon’s beleaguered Western-backed government, left Beirut on August 17 in the face of attack warnings, a senior Lebanese official said.

The Saudi embassy declined all comment but Khoja told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al Awsat daily on Saturday that “there were threats against the Saudi embassy and against my person.” Saudi Arabia and the UAE are key financiers of Lebanon and staunch backers of the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Khoja had been involved in efforts to broker an end to the rift with pro-Syrian factions that has paralysed Siniora’s legislative agenda. A member of the appointed Saudi Shura (Consultative) Council, Mohammad Al Zulfa, has pointed the finger at Syria, claiming that proxies of Damascus in Lebanon could be behind the alleged threats.

Riyadh and Damascus were recently involved in a tit-for tat tirade. Lebanon has been hit by a wave of attacks in recent years targeting anti-Syrian politicians, most infamously the 2005 murder of five-time ex-premier Rafiq Al Hariri, a billionaire businessman. -AFP