UAE issues complete travel ban to Lebanon

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has announced upgrading of the travel warning to Lebanon to a complete ban, with effect from Tuesday.

The ministry also decided to reduce the number of diplomatic mission members in Beirut to its minimum.

The ministry is currently co-ordinating with concerned authorities for immediate implementation of this decision.

Saudi Arabia urges citizens to leave Lebanon

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday urged 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.

In Riyadh, the foreign ministry issued a statement 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.

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.

The official also denounced "political and media campaigns inspired by Hezbollah against Saudi Arabia", as well as the group's "terrorist acts against Arab and Muslim nations".

Bahrain issues travel advisory 

Bahrain issued its own statement late Tuesday, telling citizens of the tiny island kingdom off Saudi Arabia to avoid travel to Lebanon, while telling citizens already there "to promptly leave and to exercise extreme caution at all times." It offered no reason for the order.

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