Saudi Arabia and UAE urge citizens to leave Lebanon

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have called on their citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling to the country after falling out over Iran.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

23 February, 2016

The foreign ministry urged citizens to get in contact with the embassy in Beirut [Getty]

Saudi Arabia has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there after cutting $4 billion in aid to Lebanese security forces.

The UAE followed suit and warned its own citizens not to travel to Lebanon, without elaborating or giving a reason for its decision.

The UAE also said it will pull most of its diplomats out of Beirut.

The Saudi foreign ministry's announcement was carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency on Tuesday.

It urged citizens to be in contact with the Saudi Embassy in Beirut. The announcement gave no reason for the warning.

Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it was halting deals worth $4 billion aimed at equipping and supporting Lebanese security forces in retaliation for Lebanon siding with Iran in the Sunni kingdom's spat with the Shia power.

A similar step was previously taken by the Gulf States, when regional tensions rose over the Syrian civil war which started five years ago.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar previously ordered their citizens out of Lebanon in 2012 after 30 Syrians were kidnapped in retaliation for a Lebanese Shia kidnapping by rebels fighting in Syria.

Lebanon's main political divide pits a Sunni-led coalition against another led by the Iran-backed Shia Hizballah movement.