Report: GCC, Lebanon Ties Heading to Further Deterioration
The Gulf Cooperation Council states are expected to take further measures to confront Hizbullah's involvement in the war raging in the neighboring country Syria, which will have a negative impact on the ties with the Lebanese state.
A diplomatic source told al-Liwaa newspaper published on Monday that the GCC's travel restriction advisory to Lebanon is a first step in a series of measure the Gulf states will adopt.
Last week, the GCC urged their citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon and called on their nationals, who are already in the country, to leave it.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates took the decision based on the current unstable situation in Lebanon.
The source told the newspaper that the economic ties between Lebanon and the GCC countries will reach a "critical stage" if Hizbullah continue to interfere in Syria.
“The Gulf states hope that the Lebanese understand the dangers that their country will be undergoing,” the source said, hoping that “the Lebanese wisdom would prevail.”
Asked if the Gulf countries measures would negatively impact the conditions of the Lebanese expats on their territories, the source said that the matter is “delicate.”
He described the issue as “complicated.”
Although Lebanon has officially adopted a position of neutrality in Syria's war, its people are sharply divided with Hizbullah and its allies backing President Bashar Assad's regime and the March 14 coalition supports the rebellion.
Syria's civil war has exacerbated sectarian tensions in Lebanon and its security situation has deteriorated due to various groups intervention in battles in the neighboring country.
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