Saudi Arabia and UAE urge citizens out of Lebanon after kidnappings
(Read article summary)The growing spillover from the Syrian civil war, which included the kidnapping of over 30 Syrians in Lebanon today, prompted the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to tell their citizens to leave Lebanon.
Both the regional power games over Syria's civil war and the repercussions for the people of that country and the region are heating up.
Today, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar ordered their citizens out of Lebanon after 30 Syrians were kidnapped in the country in retaliation for a Lebanese Shiite's kidnapping by rebel fighters in Syria.
Saudi, Qatar and the UAE are Sunni monarchies and support the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whose regime draws much of its support from the minority Alawite sect he belongs to. Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite political party and militia in Lebanon, supports Mr. Assad, as does its patron Iran. The Saudi Embassy in Beirut particularly noted the threat of kidnapping by Shiite groups in the country.
