Lebanese Judiciary Investigates Alleged Visa Forgery Involving Iraqi Travelers

A report by Petra Abou Haydar, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine 

According to Lebanese security accounts, a group of eleven Iraqis intended to travel to Saudi Arabia on tourist visas via Lebanon, entering through transit. Their departure from Rafic Hariri International Airport proceeded normally after presenting all documents, including tourist visas. They left aboard a Middle East Airlines flight to Riyadh but were prevented from entering Saudi Arabia.

The reason, as reported by Middle East Airlines in Saudi Arabia to the company in Lebanon, was notification from Saudi General Security that the visas were forged. But what was the nature of this forgery?

According to LBCI sources, all tourist visas to Saudi Arabia granted to Iraqis are issued only if the visa holder has residency in a Gulf state. This group obtained the correct visas based on forged UAE residencies.

Upon discovering the forgery, Saudi security returned the Iraqi group on the same flight they arrived on, back to Lebanon, where Middle East Airlines handed them over to General Security. Saudi authorities considered the matter a case of forgery falling under criminal law that passed through Lebanon.

General Security filed a report on the incident and detained the eleven Iraqis on Friday based on a directive from the Deputy Public Prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, Judge Samer Lichaa. Their passports were confiscated.

Following communication between the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut and Lebanese authorities, and considering the detainees' advanced age, it was decided to keep them under investigation and transfer them to a hotel in Beirut while Lebanese authorities retained their passports.

According to LBCI sources, Lebanese judiciary authorities, who contacted Saudi authorities, will keep the passports until receiving a response from Riyadh that clarifies the residency forgery issue that led to their visa approval, or any other reasons necessitating their return to Lebanon. At that point, the judiciary can resolve the matter of releasing the passports to the Iraqis.