15 Lebanese expelled from Bahrain: ambassador
dailystar / Van Meguerditchian
11-Apr-2011

BEIRUT: More than 15 Lebanese living in Bahrain are expected to arrive in Beirut this week after being expelled by the security forces, Lebanon’s ambassador to Manama Aziz Azzi said.

The decision to expel Lebanese from the Gulf island was adopted following a speech by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in which he expressed support for the demands of the Bahraini opposition.
In a telephone interview over the weekend, Azzi told The Daily Star that a visit by a Lebanese official to Bahrain was crucial at this point. “[Caretaker] Prime Minister Saad Hariri had earlier discussed the possibility of such a visit … and such a step is highly recommended,” Azzi added.

Bahraini authorities have stripped more than a dozen Lebanese of their work and residency permits.

“Lebanese individuals were notified personally by the Bahraini authorities that they have a one-week deadline to leave the country,” said Azzi, who explained that the new state of emergency imposed by the Bahraini administration gave security forces the right to take certain precautionary measures.

Following a series of anti-regime Shiite-led protests, Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa declared a three-month state of emergency. The measure gave the country’s military chief wide authority to control any civilian unrest within Bahrain.

According to Azzi, the Lebanese who received phone calls in the past week were notified to leave Bahrain for “security ... >>>

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