28 September 2010
BEIRUT: The United States Embassy denied on Monday media reports suggesting it had altered its travel advice to American citizens in Lebanon, less than a week after an article erroneously claimed it had asked its compatriots to leave the country.
The pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported that the US and several European diplomatic missions had changed their recommendations in the wake of political tensions raised by the ongoing Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) dispute.
The paper said that embassies had asked their citizens to exercise caution while travelling in Lebanon and inform relevant authorities if they move address or change contact details. Several citizens had received messages to this effect, the report added.
A press office source at the US Embassy told The Daily Star that advice to American citizens had not been changed since the last official update on August 30.
“That’s what we have been saying forever. It’s part of our advice to anyone in any country,” the source said. “There has been nothing updated in our travel advice and we are mandated to review and revise travel warnings every six months. Our travel warning is very clear in advising our citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon and that has been the case since 1997.”
Nicola Davies, political officer at the British Embassy in Beirut, said that no alterations had been made to the recommendations given to UK citizens. “We haven’t changed our travel advice recently. On a regular basis we do encourage British nationals, including long-term residents in Lebanon, to register on consular service LOCATE,” she told The Daily Star, referring to an information service to which British traveling abroad can sign up.
When asked if there were any plans to revise travel advice in Lebanon due to potentially violent fallout from the STL saga, Davies replied: “Not at the moment but everything is reviewed on a very regular basis, updates are made.”
Last week, Al-Akhbar newspaper suggested that the US Embassy had recommended all American citizens should leave Lebanon, a report which subsequently proved inaccurate. The US Embassy pointed the newspaper to its official travel advice, which has warned against travel to Lebanon for several years.
“The Department of State continues to urge US citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon due to current safety and security concerns. US citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks,” a US State Department travel warning said in March.
The STL has been the source of political tension since its formation to find and try the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated when a massive car bomb struck his motorcade as it sped through Beirut in February 2005. Twenty-two others lost their lives in the attack.
There are fears that strident rhetoric from across the parliamentary divide could spill over into violence, similar to that which struck in May 2008, when pro-government and opposition gunmen fought deadly battles on the streets of the capital, the latter taking control of west Beirut for several days.
“While Lebanon enjoys periods of relative calm, the potential for a spontaneous upsurge in violence is real,” US travel advice for Lebanon states. “Lebanese government authorities are not able to guarantee protection for citizens or visitors to the country should violence erupt suddenly.”
The US Embassy source confirmed that US citizens in Lebanon would be notified as soon as any consular travel advice was altered.
“We have a responsibility to be open and transparent about any communication we have with our citizens. Any information that has the potential to inform Americans we need to make it available immediately,” the source said.
Other European embassies contacted by The Daily Star confirmed that no amendments had been made to travel advice for foreign nationals.
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
