Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said on Monday that Lebanon rejects to welcome Iraqi refugees, asking them to remain in their land.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said on Monday that Lebanon rejects to welcome Iraqi refugees, asking them to remain in their land, state-run National News Agency reported.

"Calls to welcome displaced Iraqis are rejected. We urge them to stay in their land," Bassil said during a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hussein al-Shahristani in Baghdad.

"But we welcome Iraqi tourists in Lebanon," he said.

Bassil said the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) will be defeated in Iraq, but warned that its extremist thoughts could remain.

“What will happen after ISIL? Is it going to be fed intellectually and financially?” he asked.

Bassil also warned that the Christians in the Middle East were under threat.

ISIL terrorists declared a "caliphate" straddling areas of Iraq and Syria.

Human rights groups and residents say IS fighters have been demanding that religious minorities in the Mosul region either convert or leave, unleashing violent reprisals on any who refuse.

“If things remain the way they are, then the Christians will be under threat not just in Mosul but in the entire Orient,” Bassil said.