Gulf countries issue travel warning

• Tweet

DOHA, Qatar, May 20 (UPI) -- Three Persian Gulf countries, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain issued restrictions on travel to Lebanon following further unrest there.

All three foreign ministries said Lebanon had become unsafe for their nationals as the Syrian conflict continues to spill over into Lebanon, with reports of civilian casualties mounting, the YaLibnan news site reported.

"The UAE is keen to preserve the safety of its nationals and expats," Issa Abdullah al-Kalbani, director of the Department of Citizens Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said in a statement Saturday.

The Qatar Foreign Ministry issued a similar travel advisory due to the "unstable security situation" in Lebanon, its news agency QNA reported.

Bahrain on Saturday also warned its citizens not to travel to Lebanon to ensure their "security and safety" and urged those already there to "immediately leave or stay away from insecure areas," the official BNA Bahraini News Agency reported.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour Saturday urged all three gulf countries to reconsider their advisories, YaLibnan said.

"We hope that the officials in Qatar and UAE would reconsider their decision as the situation in Lebanon doesn't require it." Mansour said.