BEIRUT: Lebanon and Syria criticized on Tuesday the tight security screening recently introduced by the US against travelers from the two Arab nations, branding the measures a form of discrimination and warning they might lash back with similar measures.
“It is the sovereign right of the US to chose to protect its citizens the way it deems most appropriate,” Lebanon’s Information Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters. “What is under question is the fact that citizens of different countries are singled out in a discriminatory fashion.”
Syria summoned top US diplomat in Damascus and told him the new measures constituted “unfriendly behavior.”
The Syrian Foreign Ministry also informed the American diplomat that Damascus could be left with no choice but to introduce similar measures against US citizens.
