Gulf Arab states plan massive crackdown, deportation of Shi'ites

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2013/03_20/3.asp

 

Gulf Arab states plan massive crackdown, deportation of Shi'ites

ABU DHABI — The Gulf Cooperation Council, concerned over Iranian infiltration, has drafted plans for a massive crackdown on Shi'ite unrest.

A leading Kuwaiti daily reported that the six GCC states have agreed to deport thousands of Shi'ite expatriates suspected of being involved in Iranian-sponsored unrest. A-Siyassa said the first stage would be the expulsion of more than 2,000 Lebanese nationals in the spring of 2013.

Anti-government protesters march on the streets of the village of Sanabis, west of Manama, on March 14.  Reuters/Hamad I. Mohammed

In a report on March 8, A-Siyassa said the plan was approved by GCC interior minister in wake of rising Shi'ite unrest in such countries as Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The daily, which quoted an unidentified diplomat, said the interior ministers were reviewing lists of Lebanese asked to leave the Gulf immediately.

Both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have announced the expulsion of those linked to unrest. On March 7, the Saudi Interior Ministry reported the deportation of 342 foreigners, some of them linked to Shi'ite unrest in the oil-rich Eastern Province, since December 2012.

The newspaper said the GCC has already agreed to deport anybody connected to the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. Other groups would include the Shi'ite Amal, Syrian Nationalist Socialist Party and followers of Druse leader Walid Jumblat and former Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

The GCC interior ministers were also said to have agreed to crack down on banks and financial institutions linked to Iran, Lebanon and Syria. The newspaper said banks believed to be financing Iran and Hizbullah would be restricted from operating in the GCC.

A-Siyassa also said the GCC would reduce air links to Lebanon by June 2013. GCC nationals have already been banned from traveling to Lebanon.