Lebanon Diplomats Owe Nothing to UK

Newspapers and media organizations are scouring through the UK Parliament website to see if their countries are on what is now a notorious list: diplomatic missions in the UK that have committed crimes and/or have  numerous unpaid traffic fines and congestion fees.

A search through the list the UK Foreign Office submitted to the House of Commons on Monday shows that Lebanon does not owe the UK government any unpaid fines, London congestion charges or national non-domestic rates. However, a Lebanese diplomat (or family member of) was stopped in 2005 for driving under the influence. That same year, diplomats from Angola, Egypt, Ghana, Peru, Russia and Saudi Arabia were stopped for the same offense. Of course, in all these cases diplomatic immunity prevailed.

According to the records, Lebanon has been well-behaved since that incident.

No pending payments to UK from the Lebanese Embassy.

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Diplomatic Defense

So what do you get when you cross a Lebanese Harvard Business student and alcohol? Well, this:

Christian Huot, 25, and Dina Mustafa Sidani, 26, told cops they just wanted to retrieve their belongings. After the club’s staff told police they couldn’t find any inside, the officers advised Huot and Sidani to call management the next day, cops said, but Huot and Sidani refused to leave. Then, police said, Sidani called the cops racists, saying, “I’m a Lebanese citizen. I’m going to call the Lebanese Embassy,” while Huot stuck his arms out, saying, “Arrest me. I want you to arrest me.”

I’m a Lebanese citizen?!? I’m going to call the Lebanese Embassy?!? Seriously? I mean if you said something like, “I’m a member of Hezbollah and I’m going to call Nasrallah to launch his missiles are you”, well then you might have received a more telling response. And since when ‘being Lebanese’ got us any privileges? Other than Syria and Jordan, there is no where else in the world we can travel to without queuing at an Embassy for hours. Even if we were to get in trouble in a foreign country, I highly doubt you’d see a Lebanese representative in the country lift a finger.

HUOT UNDER THE COLLAR: Harvard Business School student Christian Huot allegedly grabbed a police officer by the throat on Friday night. Huot was arrested on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct.

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