U.S. May Lift Ban on Travel to Lebanon

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is “inclined” to lift a decade-old ban on travel by Americans to Lebanon, a senior State Department official said Tuesday, a step that would remove what the Beirut government considers a stain on its efforts to rebuild the country after a disastrous civil war.

State Department officials responsible for Middle East policy have unanimously urged Albright to end restrictions on the use of U.S. passports for travel to Lebanon because the country now is safer for Americans than a number of other countries not covered by similar bans.

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has made removal of the ban a top priority. On a recent visit to Washington, Hariri argued that the regulation undercuts Lebanon’s postwar reconstruction efforts and makes it difficult for U.S. businesses to sell to the Lebanese market.

Americans of Lebanese descent have also called for an end to the ban, arguing that they are denied a right enjoyed by almost all other Americans: visiting the land of their ancestry. Several members of the Senate and House have called on Albright to lift the restrictions.

Similar travel bans apply only to Iraq, Libya and Cuba. There are no such restrictions on travel to Sudan, Algeria, Afghanistan and Colombia, for instance, even though Americans are thought to be in far greater danger in those countries than in Lebanon.

The State Department official said an estimated 10,000 Americans visited Lebanon last year despite the restrictions and that at least 4,300 Americans live in the Beirut area alone. Most of these people also hold citizenship in Lebanon or some other country that allows them to use another passport, the official added.

Albright plans to issue a stern travel warning to Americans, telling them it would be unwise to visit Lebanon in any case.

“We’re not saying that Lebanon is a safe place and all Americans should vacation on the beach at Beirut,” the official said.

He said the ban on the use of U.S. airports by Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines will remain in force, as will a prohibition on American air carriers landing at Beirut.

Albright, who has been traveling in Southeast Asia, discussed the issue by telephone with Hariri on Tuesday, the official said, and she urged the Lebanese government to appoint a special representative to discuss counter-terrorism measures with U.S. officials. She also called on the Lebanese parliament to ratify a 1979 international convention requiring countries to extradite or prosecute people suspected of taking hostages.

“She is inclined to lift the restriction but was uncomfortable with the idea of doing it without having sought additional anti-terrorism steps by the Lebanese government,” the official said.

At the same time, the official said, State Department counter-terrorism specialists have concluded that there have been no “credible” threats of terrorism against Americans in Lebanon during the past three years. The last American hostage was released in 1991, and the department has not recorded a single attack against an American since then.

Lebanon has ratified nine of the 10 relevant anti-terrorism conventions, has increased the counter-terrorism capabilities of its armed forces and is building a new airport access road that bypasses a neighborhood still controlled by guerrillas.

Then-Secretary of State George P. Shultz imposed the travel ban in 1987, and it has been renewed regularly since then.