Kuwait started also deporting Hezbollah supporters . Eleven Lebanese and three Iraqis who are Hezbollah supporters were deported , the Kuwaiti al-Qabas newspaper reported on Monday.
“They have been deported at the request of Kuwait’s state security apparatus,” the daily quoted a Kuwaiti security source as saying on condition of anonymity.
“The Assistant Undersecretary for Citizenship and Passports Major General Mazen Al-Jarrah has formed a specialized team to follow up on the requests of the state security with regard to the deportation requests,” the source stated.
“The State Security has prepared a new list that includes names of Lebanese and Iraqis some of whom are general managers or senior advisers in reputable companies who were declared persona non grata,” it added.
“They should be deported for Kuwait’s public interest,” it pointed out, adding that “their expulsion will prevent them from entering the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the future.”
The move comes shortly after Kuwait announced last week that 1,100 Lebanese and Syrian nationals will be banned from renewing their residence permits for having direct links to Hezbollah.
Several of the expelled were forced to leave the country within a period of one month while the more “dangerous ones” were requested to leave immediately.
Last week, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper said that Kuwaiti authorities have started to prepare lists of Hezbollah supporters to prevent their arrival in the country and others in anticipation of their deportation.
These measures began a week ago shortly after the GCC decided to brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
The GCC’s blacklisting of Hezbollah came in wake of Saudi Arabia’s decision in February to suspend a $4 billion grant for the Lebanese army over the party’s harsh stances against the kingdom and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil’s decision not to vote in favor of Arab League resolutions condemning attacks against Riyadh’s embassy in Iran.
The Arab League last week also voted in favor of labeling Hezbollah as a terrorist group, despite reservations by Lebanon, Iraq, and Algeria.
Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries have also issued travel advisories against Lebanon.
A number of Lebanese expatriates living in these countries have also been deported.
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