Lebanon’s Consul in Detroit Designated Persona Non Grata and Has Left the United States: State Department Cites National Security Concerns
Detroit, Michigan — The US State Department has designated Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon consul general in Detroit, as persona non grata. In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, reported on November 10, a State Department spokesman cited national security concerns and said anyone in the United States who celebrates or justifies terrorist attacks has no place in the country.
Departure
According to Osama Siblani, a longtime Arab American leader in Dearborn who publishes the Arab American News, Charara had been consul in Detroit for about a year. He was informed on November 6 through the Lebanese Embassy that he had two days to leave the country, and he left the United States on a flight from Detroit Metro Airport on Sunday, November 8, Siblani said.
Reporting said the matter followed social media posts dated October 23, 2021, from an account bearing the same name and a photo of Charara, expressing support for the 1983 attack on the US Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 Americans. The Free Press said it could not independently verify whether that account belongs to Charara.
State Department statement and community response
The spokesman said terrorists murdered Americans and US colleagues in the bombings of the US Embassy compounds in Beirut in 1983 and 1984, and that the United States will never forget them. The spokesman added that the Department continuously reviews information about foreign mission members accredited to the United States, including any national security concerns, and takes appropriate action consistent with US law and international obligations.
Arab American advocates in Wayne County criticized the removal, reporting said. Siblani questioned whether Charara was a national security threat, noting he had been approved to work in the United States after a vetting process. The Consulate General of Lebanon in Detroit and the Lebanese Embassy in Washington did not return messages seeking comment, and Charara could not be reached for comment, reporting said. It is unclear who the embassy may appoint to replace him.
(Source: U.S. Department of State)
Source: U.S. Department of State
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：密歇根州底特律市中心。照片：CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Downtown Detroit, Michigan. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
