LEBANON-US: Consulate reopens in Beirut opens after 19-year absence

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Att.Editors: The following item is from the Qatar News Agency (QNA)

BEIRUT, Jun 2 2003 (IPS) - The United States consulate in Lebanon, which was shut down 19 years ago following attacks on the embassy, was reopened Monday in Beirut.

The embassy was the target of a suicide attack in 1983 which killed 63 people and a car bomb in 1984 which left 16 people dead. The embassy building was then located in the seaside Ain Mreish district in Beirut but it subsequently moved to Awkar, 20 kilometers east of Beirut, which is heavily guarded.

Since 1984, US visa and other consular services for Lebanese have been handled in Damascus and Nicosia.