Morocco closes embassy in Lebanon, sets up crisis unit to help nationals

The Moroccan embassy said it closed its office in Beirut on the backdrop of continuing mass protests over economic and political problems in Lebanon.

The embassy announced its closure on social media after setting up a crisis cell to help Moroccan nationals in Lebanon.

Anger at political elites has engulfed Lebanon as hundreds of thousands continue to take to the streets across the country in protests that are the largest since 2005 uprising against Syrian military presence.

The protesters demand the departure of all the sectarian-based political class that ruled the country since Lebanon’s civil war, which ended in 1990.

Lebanon’s economy has rapidly declined in the past decade with the fallout of insecurity in Syria’s civil war further burdening the already fragile social and economic fabric in the country.

Some countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, have started evacuating their nationals back home while several others have issued travel advisories and asked their citizens to avoid the mass rallies.