Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud speaks as he approves 2018 budget during a cabinet meeting, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 19, 2017. (Reuters Photo)
BEIRUT, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's public prosecutor has filed a lawsuit against ad-Diyar newspaper and its owner and editor-in-chief Charles Ayoub on charges of insulting Saudi King Salman, the daily said on Sunday.
The prosecution has demanded a one-year's jail term and a fine for Ayoub, ad-Diyar said.
According to the newspaper, Ayoub had likened the Saudi monarch to controversial medieval Muslim theologian Ibn Taymiyyah and called Saudi minister Thamer al-Sabhan an "Israeli agent."
Ayoub's article was published during the Lebanese-Saudi crisis that followed Prime Minister Saad Hariri's controversial resignation while in the kingdom.
The public prosecution had on Friday filed a lawsuit against the comedian Hisham Haddad, the host of "Lahon-w-bass," Lebanon's most watched satirical TV show.
Haddad is accused of "insulting" Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Hariri during one of his show's episodes.