Saudi Arabia is poised to send packing any Lebanese citizens who support the militant group Hezbollah, a show of solidarity with rebel fighters in Syria who are battling to oust President Bashar Assad.
The Saudis back the opposition movement, composed mainly of Sunni Syrian fighters, and oppose Mr. Assad, a member of Alawite sect, which is a Shiite offshoot, The Associate Press reported. Hezbollah fighters — of the Shiite camp — helped Mr. Assad’s forces win the strategic Syrian town of Qusair, which is near the border with Lebanon, AP said.
And now Saudi Arabia said it will expel “those who financially support this party,” Ali Awad Assiri, the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, said late Wednesday, the AP reported.
“This is a serious decision and will be implemented in detail whether by the embassy [in Beirut] or in the kingdom,” he said in the AP report. “The aim is not to humiliate Lebanese citizens or make them kneel. Acts are being committed against innocent Syrian people.”
Mr. Assiri didn’t specify when the deportations would begin.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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