Lebanese Expats Fearful As GCC Nations Expel Dozens
SUBSCRIPTION SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2016 RAJAB 2, 1437 AH No: 16839 Kuwait mourns British brands eye Warriors clinch luminary stage growing Muslim home-court director 2Al-Shatti consumer25 market advantage48 Lebanese expats fearful as GCC nations expel dozens Min 19º 150 Fils 100 expelled from Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE in 2 months Max 36º DUBAI: Ahmed, a Lebanese worker living in the United Arab Emirates, closed down his Facebook page and started to shun some of his compatriots. His intention was to sever all links to people associated with Lebanon’s Hezbollah after Gulf Arab states classified the Shiite Muslim organiza- tion as a terrorist group. Ahmed, a medical worker in his early 50s who declined to give his full name, is not alone. Anxiety and apprehension are unsettling many of the up to 400,000 Lebanese workers living in the Gulf after last month’s announcement by the Gulf Cooperation Council - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. The rich states, where Lebanese have worked for generations, some achieving wealth and influ- ence, have threatened to imprison and expel anyone linked to the Iranian-allied group that fights in support of President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria’s civil war. The GCC move on Hezbollah is part of a struggle pitting Sunni Saudi Arabia against Shiite regional heavyweight Iran. The rivals back different factions in Lebanon where Hezbollah wields enormous political influence as well as MANAMA: (From left) Kuwait Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, Qatar Foreign Minister Mohammed bin having a powerful military wing.
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