Part of Beirut off limits to US staff

BEIRUT – The US embassy has put areas south of Beirut off-limits to its staff, after five people died in clashes last month between the Lebanese army and protesters in Hizbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“Due to series of incidents over the past month, the US embassy has placed the coastal area south of Beirut off-limits to its staff until further notice,” the embassy said in a message obtained by Reuters yesterday. It also urged US citizens in Lebanon to avoid “the same areas if at all possible”.Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment on the nature of the incidents referred to in the message which was circulated to US citizens in the country.At the time of the clashes, which erupted out of protests over fuel prices, Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said people “connected” to the embassy were behind the unrest.The embassy did not comment on that claim.Washington deems Hizbollah a “terrorist” group and believes the Iranian and Syrian-backed organisation abducted US citizens and was involved in bombings of the US embassy and Marine barracks during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.Hizbollah, which helped end Israel’s 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in 2000 and has become an institution with seats in parliament, denies those charges.On Friday, the United States issued a warning of possible al Qaeda militant attacks against Westerners across the Gulf region after a kidnapped American was beheaded in Saudi Arabia.- Nampa-ReutersIt also urged US citizens in Lebanon to avoid “the same areas if at all possible”.Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment on the nature of the incidents referred to in the message which was circulated to US citizens in the country.At the time of the clashes, which erupted out of protests over fuel prices, Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said people “connected” to the embassy were behind the unrest.The embassy did not comment on that claim.Washington deems Hizbollah a “terrorist” group and believes the Iranian and Syrian-backed organisation abducted US citizens and was involved in bombings of the US embassy and Marine barracks during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.Hizbollah, which helped end Israel’s 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in 2000 and has become an institution with seats in parliament, denies those charges.On Friday, the United States issued a warning of possible al Qaeda militant attacks against Westerners across the Gulf region after a kidnapped American was beheaded in Saudi Arabia.- Nampa-Reuters