JEDDAH: Members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah who are residing in Gulf Cooperation Council states will pay the price for the Shiite movement’s military role in Syria against freedom fighters.
A GCC statement, citing a ministerial council decision, said the measures will affect Hezbollah members' “residency permits, and financial and commercial transactions.”
The statement urged the Lebanese government to “assume its responsibilities toward the behavior of Hezbollah and its illegal and inhumane practices in Syria and the region.”
The six-member bloc strongly condemned the flagrant intervention of Hezbollah in Syria and its participation in shedding the blood of Syrian people. The statement came after the Saudi Cabinet condemned Hezbollah’s “blatant intervention” in the Syrian crisis.
Fighters from Hezbollah openly spearheaded a 17-day assault on the Syrian town of Qusair near the Lebanese border which culminated with its recapture from the fighters last Wednesday.
According to a report carried by AsSiyassah newspaper in Kuwait, the country’s Interior Ministry would soon take action against some 2,000 Lebanese citizens in the state by ending their residency.
“It will also deny visas to those belonging to different Lebanese groups including followers of Nabih Berri and Walid Jumblatt,” the paper said, quoting diplomatic sources.
The anti-Hezbollah move by the GCC has stirred fears among the many Shiite Lebanese who work in the Gulf because of their association with the militant group.
A GCC foreign ministers’ meeting in Jeddah recently denounced Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
“The GCC ministerial council has decided to take measures against those enlisted in the party residing in the member states, whether with regard to their residencies or their financial and commercial dealings,” said a final communique issued after the meeting.
• additional input from Agence France Presse
