Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat- Marwan Sharbil, Lebanese minister of interior and municipalities, responded to the travel warnings issued by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain by stating that thus far, the security situation in Lebanon does not call for fear.

Sharbil told Asharq Al-Awsat:, “I call on these countries to wait and retract their decisions, and I reassure the officials in these countries that the situation in Lebanon and what is going on in Tripoli does not indicate danger, particularly since the Lebanese parties are enlightened and no one of them wants to sabotage the country.” The Lebanese minister went on to say that “I do not know the data they are receiving in order to make such a decision, and I was in Qatar 10 months ago and met with the interior minister there and the situation was positive, but I do not know what are the political and security changes that took place which led them to make these decisions.”

Sharbil called on the Lebanese parties to meet for dialogue, and expressed the hope of reaching a final solution as soon as possible before the situation on the ground further aggravates and the crisis moves to other Lebanese areas, and so that other countries do not follow the steps of the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.

For his part, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Adnan Mansur commented on the decisions made by Qatar and the UAE, which asked the Qatari and UAE citizens “not to travel to Lebanon,” and those who are present in it “to leave due to the security conditions there,” saying that “we hope that the brother officials in Qatar and the UAE would reconsider these decisions because the conditions in Lebanon do not necessitate making such decisions and because the brother Qataris and UAE citizens are the same as other Arab brothers, and they have special status in the hearts of the Lebanese, and the brotherly and kinship relations that link Lebanon with them are greater than any casual and incidental issue, and therefore, they are welcome in Lebanon at any time because, in the end, they are in their second country which embraces them as it embraces its citizens.”