The company has reportedly offered staff the choice of moving to Riyadh or resigning.
Saudi-owned broadcaster MBC Group has announced that it plans to close its office permanently in Beirut soon and relocate to Riyadh.
News of the move comes a day after George Kordahi, the Lebanese information minister and a former MBC presenter, caused controversy with his comments about Saudi Arabia and the war in Yemen.
Kurdahi has triggered an outcry in the Gulf countries after he said in recent remarks that Yemen’s Al Houthi rebels aligned with Iran were fighting in self-defence. His comment sparked diplomatic protests from several Gulf countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
MBC chairman Walid Al Ebrahim denounced Kurdahi’s remarks as “very strange, totally unacceptable and biased”.
The company said the reason for the move is a push by authorities in the Kingdom to relocate all state-owned media and broadcasting companies to Saudi Arabia.
While the headquarters of MBC is currently in Dubai, the Lebanon branch was a prominent production office.
