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LEBANON-GULF CRISIS

Kuwait reportedly suspends tourist visas for Lebanese passport holders

Kuwait reportedly suspends tourist visas for Lebanese passport holders

The flags of Kuwait and Lebanon. (Credit: Yasser al-Zayyat and Joseph Eid/AFP)

BEIRUT — Amid an ongoing diplomatic rift, Kuwait has halted processing tourist visas for Lebanese citizens, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas reported Wednesday.

Here’s what we know:

    • Al-Qabas cites an “informed security source” as saying that the Interior Ministry in Kuwait has stopped processing tourist visas for Lebanese citizens until further notice.

    • The source reportedly told Al-Qabas that Lebanese citizens presently resident in Kuwait will not be affected by the decision as it only concerns tourists and visitors to the country who are traveling on Lebanese passports.

    • Meanwhile, AFP cited a security source as saying that “a verbal decision has been taken to be stricter in granting tourist and business visas to Lebanese,” but that no official decision had been made and that visas for visitors from Lebanon have not been suspended.

    • On Tuesday, the same news outlet reported that Kuwaiti authorities had arrested eight individuals accused of transferring funds to Iran-backed and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

    • Speaking to L’Orient Today on Wednesday morning, the Beirut-based Samana Travel Agency stated that they had not yet been notified as a travel agency to stop issuing tickets to Lebanese citizens seeking to travel to Kuwait.

    • Kuwait severed diplomatic ties with Lebanon following a diplomatic spat that erupted when comments made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kurdahi criticizing Saudi Arabia’s intervention in the war in Yemen were broadcast on Al Jazeera on Oct. 25. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also cut diplomatic ties with Lebanon, while Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador, expelled Lebanon’s envoy in Riyadh and imposed a blanket ban on Lebanese imports.

BEIRUT — Amid an ongoing diplomatic rift, Kuwait has halted processing tourist visas for Lebanese citizens, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas reported Wednesday. Here’s what we know:    • Al-Qabas cites an “informed security source” as saying that the Interior Ministry in Kuwait has stopped processing tourist visas for Lebanese citizens until further notice.    • The...