Gulf countries to reportedly lift travel ban on Lebanon
After the UAE allowed its citizens to travel to Lebanon, the fellow countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council are inclined to follow suit in the near future, Lebanon’s Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday.
“Intensive meetings are being held with political and security officials, most notably the meeting that PM Nawaf Salam will hold today with the GCC ambassadors to explain the measures that the Lebanese state has taken at the airport, its vicinity and along the road leading to it with the aim of reassuring these countries before they take the ban lifting decisions,” the daily quoted a “highly informed source” as saying.
“Subsequent meetings will be held between a number of ambassadors and senior security officials to discuss the taken measures and remove any legal and security obstacles,” the source added.
Emirati citizens will be able to visit Lebanon as of May 7 after a ban imposed during a diplomatic row in 2021 was lifted, the official WAM news agency has reported.
The Emirati announcement came after President Joseph Aoun met with his UAE counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, after which it was announced that the ban would be lifted.
In 2021, the United Arab Emirates imposed the travel ban and withdrew diplomats from Beirut in solidarity with Saudi Arabia, after a Lebanese minister criticized the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen.
Lebanese citizens were not banned from traveling to the UAE, although some experienced difficulties obtaining visas.
Ties between Beirut and Abu Dhabi had soured in the past decade over Hezbollah's influence on Lebanon.
But with the group weakened by its recent war with Israel, the UAE is the latest Gulf country to renew its interest in Lebanon.
In March, Saudi Arabia said it would review "obstacles" to resuming Lebanese imports and ending a ban on its citizens visiting Lebanon.
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