U.S. declares Lebanese consul in Detroit persona non grata

The U.S. State Department declared Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit, persona non grata over social-media posts attributed to him praising the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 American service members. The designation requires Lebanon to recall him or end his consular functions in the United States, according to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed the designation, saying people who celebrate or justify terrorist attacks have no place in the United States. The department said it reviews information about foreign diplomats, including potential national-security concerns, and takes action consistent with U.S. law and international obligations. It has not publicly provided a detailed explanation of its decision.

The posts, reported as dating from 2021, described the bombing as heroic resistance against U.S. military involvement in Lebanon. Their authorship is disputed. A source close to Charara told L’Orient Today that he did not write them and that his old social-media account had been hacked about seven years earlier, leaving him without access. The reports do not...