American consulate in Beirut to be reopened

The US ambassador to Lebanon, Richard Jones, on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the American consulate in Beirut, announcing that it would start operations early next year.

The consulate, which was closed down in 1984, would initially provide services only for American citizens in Lebanon, including passport renewals, birth certificates and other documentation. Jones declined to say when the consulate would begin issuing U.S. visas to the Lebanese.

Since the closing of the consulate, Lebanese people have had to travel to Cyprus or Syria in order to obtain a visa to travel to the United States.

"This is the first step towards the resumption of consular services at the American embassy in Beirut," Jones said before he laid down the foundation stone Thursday.

He made clear, however, that this would be a long, slow process and that this did not mean that the embassy would start issuing visas tomorrow, "not by any stretch of the imagination."

"As with any embassy, our number one responsibility is to American citizens," Jones said.

There are some 10,000 Americans living in Lebanon and the number of residents and visitors has been steadily increasing since the US State Department lifted a ban on American travel to Lebanon in July.

"Americans are coming back to Lebanon," said Barbara Baden, the U.S. consul who came to Lebanon five weeks ago.

"We are confident that Lebanon is a stable country now," she said, adding that the ban's lifting had a direct bearing on the decision to reopen the consulate.