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The deployment of the USS Cole off the Lebanese coast may have added more concern about the political deadlock in Lebanon,

Hezbollah and Syria criticized the US action ,.

The warship is anchored about 60 Miles ( 96 KM) off the Lebanese coast

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi embassy in Lebanon regarding the Saudi travel advisory nor with regards to the deployment of the USS Cole

Saudi Arabia has been under criticism by the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah-led opposition

Kuwait and Bahrain have issued similar travel advisories to Lebanon

Restriction of travel by the Arabian Gulf countries will be a blow to the Lebanese economy , which has been suffering since the 2006 summer war .

Lebanon is one of the most indebted nations on per capita basis and depends greatly on the tourism industry .

Foreign Ministers of the GCC countries are meeting today in Riyadh to discuss the Damascus summit and the Lebanese political crises. The king of Saudi Arabia has warned Damascus that he may miss the summit if Syria does not cooperate over the Lebanese presidential elections .

The GCC countries are expected to decide today to link their participation in the summit to the Lebanese elections. This could result in the cancellation of the summit , if Syria does not cooperate in Lebanon.
Yesterday Syria's ally Speaker Nabih Berri threatened to take new measures if the Damascus summit is canceled. This was interpreted by analysts as more riots , violence and tire burning by the opposition.

It is not clear whether the reiteration of the Saudi travel advisory is related to the threats by Berri

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Tags: Bahrain, Breaking News, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Travel