US Expels Lebanese Consul Over Alleged Praise for 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing

The U.S. State Department has ordered the expulsion of Ibrahim Sharara, Lebanon’s consul in Detroit, according to a report published Sunday by the Washington Free Beacon. The diplomat was instructed to leave the United States within 48 hours after old social media posts surfaced in which he allegedly praised the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, an attack that killed 241 American service members.

According to the report, Sharara wrote in 2021, on the anniversary of the bombing, that the attack was an act of “heroic resistance by Lebanese freedom fighters” that brought an end to the “American military occupation” of Lebanon. Another post attributed to him stated: “From the Marine barracks in Beirut to the al-Tanf base in Syria, we will resist the occupier and defeat him.”

The posts sparked criticism in the United States and reportedly prompted the State Department to declare Sharara persona non grata, effectively requiring him to leave the country.

Sharara denied responsibility for the statements in an interview with L’Orient Today, claiming that the social media account from which they were published had been hacked approximately seven years ago. He said he had lost access to the account, along with the associated email address and telephone number, and maintained that he was not responsible for the posts attributed to him.