Mansour Denies Lebanese Expats in Gulf Undergoing Mass Expulsion

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied on Saturday that the Lebanese expats in the Gulf are subjected to a mass extradition campaign, calling on the media to report accurately the news.

He pointed out that Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri said that the Gulf Cooperation Council states will extradite any foreigner, whether Lebanese or from another nationality, if the person violates the immigration rules in the GCC countries.

“Gulf authorities haven't so far taken measures against Lebanese compatriots in their countries,” Mansour told reporters at Beirut Rafik Hariri International airport, ahead of an official visit to Tehran.

Asked about the expulsion of at least 18 Lebanese citizens from Qatar after the Gulf Cooperation Council pledged to act against members of Hizbullah, Mansour ruled out that the Gulf state has targeted a specific sect.

“We have to differentiate between the expulsion of expatriates for no obvious reason and those who failed to fully carry out their tasks,” the official added.

Media reports said on Thursday that “those who were deported from Qatar belong to one team that was in charge of overseeing an engineering project for the interior ministry and the expulsion is linked to mistakes whose price was paid by the Lebanese team.”

Mansour previously denied that the expulsion was linked to a decision taken by the GCC against Hizbullah, the employees “had employment contracts ranging between one year and two years and as a result of the evaluation, 21 employees were sacked – 15 Lebanese, one Pakistani, one Indian, one Bahraini, one Canadian and two Egyptians.”

On June 10, the GCC said it would implement measures affecting the "residency permits and financial and commercial transactions of Hizbullah" in response to the group's involvement in the conflict in Syria.

Mansour said that he is set to meet with senior Iranian officials during his visit to Iran, where talks will focus on the bilateral ties and the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.

“No doubt the developments in the neighboring country Syria affects directly and indirectly all the region, in particular Lebanon,” he told reporters.

Mansour said that he will address with Iranian officials ways to prevent the turmoil in Syria from spilling over into Lebanon.

The Syrian opposition accuses Iran of providing Damascus with weapons and encouraging Hizbullah, which relies on Tehran for support, to dispatch fighters to Syria.