FO issues Lebanon warning
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is advising against all non-essential travel to Lebanon in the wake of widespread violence following the funeral of the country’s security chief, Wissam al-Hassan, who died in a car bomb attack on 19 October. Demonstrators, having renewed calls for the resignation of prime minister Najib Mikati, attempted to storm government offices in Beirut on 20 and 21 October, and police responded with warning shots sand tear gas. The FCO has warned any British nationals residing in Beirut to exercise caution, and to remain indoors unless it is absolutely necessary to go out. “Numerous roads throughout Lebanon, including the airport highway, are currently subject to closure with groups of protesters burning tyres,” said the FCO’s statement. “There have also been reports of gunfire and sporadic violence breaking out across the country and there is potential for an upsurge in violence.”
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is advising against all non-essential travel to Lebanon in the wake of widespread violence following the funeral of the country’s security chief, Wissam al-Hassan, who died in a car bomb attack on 19 October. Demonstrators, having renewed calls for the resignation of prime minister Najib Mikati, attempted to storm government offices in Beirut on 20 and 21 October, and police responded with warning shots sand tear gas. The FCO has warned any British nationals residing in Beirut to exercise caution, and to remain indoors unless it is absolutely necessary to go out. “Numerous roads throughout Lebanon, including the airport highway, are currently subject to closure with groups of protesters burning tyres,” said the FCO’s statement. “There have also been reports of gunfire and sporadic violence breaking out across the country and there is potential for an upsurge in violence.”
The unrest comes shortly after Beirut’s tourism minister Fady Abboud condemned the ‘serious misrepresentations’ of the city in the US drama series Homeland. A recent episode of the series set in Beirut, according to Abboud, painted a picture of ‘a city of Kalashnikov and war’, an image that the tourism minister – who has spent a lot of time and money trying to repair the city’s reputation – refutes. He has raised the possibility of legal action against the makers of the programme.