Report: Libya stops giving entry visas to Lebanese and Syrians

Governmental sources in Beirut stressed that the Lebanese Foreign Ministry will shortly summon the Libyan ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Mahmoud Maria, to learn about the decision taken by his country to stop issuing entry visas to Lebanese and the Syrian citizens to its territories.

Lebanese official sources told the London-based al-Hayat daily that the Libyan ambassador has been absent from attending certain official occasions because of the presence of the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, due to the fact that the movement holds the Libyan authorities responsible for the disappearance of the chairman of the higher Shiite Islamic council, Imam Mousa al-Sader, while he was on an official visit to Libya in 1978.

In statements to al-Hayat, Arab diplomatic sources in Beirut said that Libya has stopped giving visas to the Lebanese as of December 2.

It has also taken a similar decision for the Syrians, but without giving explanations or reasons behind such a decision.