Miqati Urges UAE, Qatar and Bahrain to Reconsider Lebanon Travel Warning
Prime Minister Najib Miqati urged on Saturday the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain to reconsider their travel warning to Lebanon.
The premier said "the procedures taken by some Gulf countries are not justified," urging "the three countries to reconsider the travel restriction advisory to Lebanon."
Miqati tasked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who is currently in Doha, to follow up the issue with the Qatari authorities.
Earlier, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain's foreign ministries issued a travel restriction advisory urging nationals in Lebanon to leave the country because of the "unstable security situation" in it.
However, Mansour urged on Saturday Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to reconsider their travel restriction advisory to Lebanon.
Mansour later held talks with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and urged him to reconsider the travel warning to Lebanon.
He stressed that the situation in Lebanon "doesn't require such decisions."
“The UAE is keen to preserve the safety of its nationals and expats,” Director of the Department of Citizens Affairs at the Foreign Ministry Issa Abdullah al-Kalbani said.
He urged his country’s nationals to leave Lebanon, as for those obliged to stay, Issa called on them to contact their embassy in Beirut to inform it of their location and contact details.
Qatar issued a similar warning due to the "unstable security situation" in Lebanon, its news agency QNA reported.
The ministry also urged all its citizens currently in Lebanon to leave the country and if they have to stay for any unavoidable reasons to contact the Qatari embassy in Beirut to give their whereabouts and contact details.
Later, Bahrain asked its citizens not to travel to Lebanon to ensure their "security and safety" as it urged those already there to "immediately leave or stay away from insecure areas," the official news agency BNA reported.
Mansour said: “We hope that the officials in Qatar and UAE would reconsider their decision as the situation in Lebanon doesn’t require it.”
Clashes erupted over the past week in the northern port city of Tripoli between the rival neighborhoods of Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh and Alawite Jabal Mohsen.
The clashes left 10 people dead and sparked fears that the revolt sweeping Syria since March of last year could engulf Lebanon.
Clashes broke out last weekend after the arrest of Sunni Islamist Shadi al-Mawlawi on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization.
His supporters say he was targeted for helping Syrian refugees fleeing the unrest in their country.
Since the outbreak of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad in March 2011, Tripoli has become a safe haven for activists and thousands of refugees fleeing the unrest that has left more than 12,000 people dead, according to a rights group.
Sectarian violence has flared on a number of occasions in the city since the revolt broke out but the latest escalation has been the deadliest.
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