Saudi Arabia says it will deport Lebanese supporters of Hezbollah

Saudi Arabia has vowed to deport Lebanese nationals who support Hezbollah from the Kingdom.

Ali Awad Assiri, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon, told Future TV that those who support the Shia miltant group financially would be expelled.

The message comes after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) declared on June 10 that it was pushing back against the group because of its role in Syria fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Qatar has already expelled 18 Lebanese nationals since the GCC's decision, a source told AFP.

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The Gulf Cooperation Council includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, mainly Sunni nations with a history of mistreatment of Shia minorities.

There are over one million Lebanese working in Gulf countries, many of them Shias, who worry that they could be persecuted under the new initiative.

"Hezbollah has erred against itself, its sect and its country. This decision affects those who have been deceived (by Hezbollah)," Award Assiri told Lebanon's Future TV.

“The aim is not to humiliate Lebanese citizens or make them kneel. Acts are being committed against innocent Syrian people," he went on to say.

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