US declares Lebanon’s consul in Detroit persona non grata — Asharq Al-Awsat

The US State Department has declared Lebanon’s consul in Detroit, Ibrahim Sharara, persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours. Sources at Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Asharq Al-Awsat about this.

Notification to the embassy

According to the publication’s sources, the Lebanese Embassy in Washington officially received notification from the State Department of this decision. Ibrahim Sharara served as Lebanon’s consul in Detroit.

Sources at Lebanon’s foreign ministry confirmed to the publication that the US side informed Lebanon’s diplomatic mission of the need for the consul to depart within the specified 48-hour period.

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Posts and political events

According to reports, the decision was preceded by a dispute over old social media posts attributed to Sharara. In these posts, he described the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut as an act of heroic resistance.

US media also drew attention to Sharara’s participation in political events in the state of Michigan. In particular, this concerned an event in support of Democratic Party candidate Abdul El-Sayed.