Kuwait warns on travel to Lebanon

Tense political rivalries worsened further in Lebanon recently

Kuwaiti nationals have been advised to delay travel to Lebanon because of a security threat at its Beirut embassy.

The embassy was evacuated after an anonymous caller said it would be attacked.

Earlier in the week, the Saudi Arabian authorities advised Saudi citizens against travelling to Lebanon because of the uncertain security situation.

Lebanon has been without a president since November and is in the grip of its worst crisis since the civil war.

The years since the 1975-91 Lebanese civil war saw hundreds of thousands of Gulf Arabs visiting the country for holidays.

However, the numbers fell sharply after a series of political assassinations and the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Kuwait charge d'affaires in Beirut, Tariq al-Hamad, was quoted saying there had been an anonymous threat to launch a rocket attack on the embassy.

Security concerns rose last week following a deadly bomb attack in neighbouring Syria on a Lebanese militant commander from the Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement.

On Wednesday, a bloc in the Kuwaiti parliament expelled two of its MPs, both Shia Muslims who eulogised the slain militant, Imad Mughniyeh, at a demonstration.

Kuwait has accused him of hijacking a Kuwaiti airliner and killing two hostages back in 1988.