By Patrick Galey

The Daily Star

BEIRUT: At least five Lebanese have been deported from Bahrain amid ongoing social unrest and as many as 20 others are expected to be expelled in the coming days, a senior diplomat told The Daily Star Monday.
Lebanon’s Ambassador to Manama, Aziz Azzi, confirmed that five Lebanese citizens had already been removed from the Gulf island state.

“We are trying to stop the expulsions but as of today 20 people have been asked to leave Bahrain as soon as possible,” he told The Daily Star via telephone from Manama. “I have no idea why, but we are trying to put an end to it. There is no information about this but we are being told it is for security reasons and people who are being told to leave are not involved [in any protest action].”

The decision to remove Lebanese from Bahrain followed criticism by Hezbollah over the presence of Saudi troops in Manama and a weekend address by party leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who voiced support for the demands of Bahrain’s Shiite opposition, which has been leading anti-regime protests in the capital for a number of weeks.
Azzi said it was unclear whether the decision to remove Lebanese nationals had been politically motivated, but that he did not believe it was.

“I don’t know if there is a political decision here,” he said. “We have a good relationship between Bahrain and Lebanon. The most important thing is that the Lebanese [in Bahrain] are continuing with their normal lives.”
Azzi Sunday suggested a visit by a senior Lebanese official to Bahrain to assess the gravity of the situation. A source close to Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati told The Daily Star that he had commenced “personal” contacts in Manama in a bid to halt the expulsions.

Following a series of Shiite-led protests against the Sunni King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa, he announced a three-month state of emergency and commenced a significant security crackdown against demonstrators, an action which Nasrallah labeled “murder.”
Salem Itani, 45, a Lebanese who has worked in Manama for three years, blamed Nasrallah for the removal of some fellow expatriates.

“They [the authorities] are deporting Lebanese from all sects,” Itani told The Daily Star from Manama. “They are calling them on their mobile phones and asking them to pay a visit to the immigration offices. They just say that you are no longer wanted over here and they give you 24 hours to leave.

“It is because of what people in Beirut have been saying on the television. The situation here is generally calm and there are no problems but I hear from friends who live near the dangerous areas that the police are visiting people and arresting them.”

Lebanon is currently engaged in a struggle to evacuate its citizens from war-torn Ivory Coast and a Foreign Ministry delegation has flown to Accra in neighboring Ghana to assess the situation. Itani criticized the government for not doing more to protect and inform Lebanese living in Bahrain. “Lebanese authorities have no clue what is going on here. I have contacted them and their only response is that I must register with the embassy,” he said.
“[Lebanese] over here have made commitments to banks and to companies. Most of the Lebanese I know have management level jobs; they are all on a high level [of income]. To leave immediately in such a situation is not easy. People here are really terrified.”

Itani added that although calm had largely been restored to central Manama, he was concerned that he might be the next Lebanese to get a call from Bahraini authorities.
“I am 45 now and if I have to leave with my family and start again from scratch that is going to be very difficult,” he said. “I have a family to support and if they told me to go I would leave and I would ask Mr. Nasrallah to take the blame.”