Bahrain urges citizens to leave Lebanon

Manama : The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain yesterday urged all the Bahraini citizens to avoid travelling to Lebanon, for their own safety. It also called on those who are now in Lebanon, to leave the country right away and to be very vigilant while waiting for departure. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia also ordered its citizens in Lebanon to leave, after Riyadh halted a $3 billion programme funding military supplies to Beirut in response to “hostile” positions linked to Hezbollah.

Saudi ally and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member the United Arab Emirates followed suit but went even further, banning its nationals from going to Lebanon and reducing its diplomatic representation there.

The Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia issued a statement in Riyadh calling on “all citizens not to travel to Lebanon, for their safety, and asking citizens residing in Lebanon or visiting not to stay unless extremely necessary,” the official SPA news agency reported. 

Announcing the Saudi aid halt on Friday, an official said the Kingdom had noticed “hostile Lebanese positions resulting from the stranglehold of Hezbollah on the State”.

Riyadh was making “a comprehensive review of its relations with the Lebanese republic”, the unnamed official said, cited by SPA. 

Alleged leaders of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah are under sanction by Saudi Arabia. 

The militant group is fighting in support of Syria’s regime and is backed by Iran. 

Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran last month after demonstrators stormed its embassy and a consulate following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia cleric.

The Saudi official quoted on Friday said Lebanon had not joined condemnation of the attacks on its diplomatic missions in Iran, either at the Arab League or the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.