BEIRUT — The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is warning its citizens against traveling to Lebanon, citing security concerns. The Gulf federation's charge d'affaires in Lebanon, Hamad Mohammed Al-Junaibi, urged all Emiratis in Lebanon to leave immediately and to work with the UAE embassy to ease their departures, according to a statement carried late Saturday by the UAE's state news agency. The warning follows a suicide car bombing and police raids on Friday against suspected members of an Al-Qaeda breakaway group allegedly plotting attacks in the country. Lebanon is a popular destination for tourists from the Emirates and other Gulf states. Separately, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam arrived in Kuwait on Sunday for a daylong visit that includes talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart. The bombing — the first since March — along with the security dragnet in and around Beirut sparked fears of renewed violence in a country which has been buffeted by the conflict in neighboring Syria. Al-Qaeda-inspired militants have claimed bombings in the past. Still, Friday's bombing was the first in several months, suggesting a possible link to events in Iraq, where the Al-Qaeda splinter group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has seized large chunks of territory in the country's north. A Lebanese security official confirmed that the arrests in Beirut on Friday netted suspected members of the group. – AP
