Lebanese caretaker Tourism Minister Avedis Guidanian issued on Tuesday an apology to Egypt after criticizing the country’s cleanliness and living conditions.
Guidanian, in an interview published on Monday by Lebanon's English-language Daily Star, complained that negative media reports about Lebanon were harming his country's image and hindering tourism.
"Look at Egypt - is there a place dirtier than it? People are louder than us, there is more traffic than here - people live in graves, OK? But there is tourism, because they know how to sell the country," Guidanian said.
Late on Monday Guidanian apologized for his remarks and visited the Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon on Tuesday, reported the National News Agency.
In Egypt, pro-government TV talk show host Ahmed Moussa said he "does not care for his apology", but stressed the good relations between the people of Egypt and Lebanon. Moussa dismissed the minister as a "fool" and said the Lebanese government should "intervene".
An official diplomatic source said the minister's statement in the newspaper "does not reflect the position of Lebanon as a country or government, nor the Lebanese people".
"The Lebanese people come to Egypt for tourism in large numbers," the source added.
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