Gulf states plan to deport thousands of Lebanese Shi'ites over their alleged links to Hizbollah and Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said a report.

The measure was being considered because of intelligence reports that Lebanese Shi'ite activists had been involved in protests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication, reported citing London-based Arab diplomatic sources.

Based on the assessments by the US, France and Bahrain, alleged Hizbollah and Revolutionary Guard agents were leading the protests along with local Shi'ite clerics in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, they said.

Bahrain's decision to suspend flights to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon and its condemnation of remarks by Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had 'paved the way for the deportation of thousands of Lebanese Shi'ites from the Gulf', the report added.

'No Lebanese Shi'ite linked to or suspected of being associated with Hizbollah and the Revolutionary Guards will remain in the Gulf,' the report said, citing high-ranking Bahraini officials.

Bahrain is preparing to deport 90 Lebanese Shi'ites, and is examining the status of 4,000 Lebanese families living in the kingdom, they added.-TradeArabia News Service