U.S. Declares Lebanon's Detroit Consul Ibrahim Charara Persona Non Grata, Orders Departure Within 48 Hours
The U.S. State Department notified Lebanon's embassy that Consul Ibrahim Charara must leave the United States within two days, citing his past social-media comments about the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.
Lebanese officials confirmed that the U.S. State Department has formally declared Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon's consul in Detroit, persona non grata and given him 48 hours to depart the United States. The decision follows the emergence of older social-media posts in which Charara described the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut as an act of "heroic resistance."
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said the embassy in Washington received the notification and is communicating the directive to Charara. No further comment was provided on any diplomatic repercussions.
"We have been informed of the U.S. decision and are working to ensure compliance with the 48-hour deadline," a ministry spokesperson said.
The move marks a rare diplomatic sanction against a Lebanese diplomat and underscores heightened sensitivities surrounding historical narratives of the 1983 attack.