BEIRUT: The Syrian authorities have given their Lebanese counterparts lists of Lebanese and Syrians they say are engaged in smuggling and destructive acts along the two countries’ borders.
Two meetings bringing together army, intelligence and customs authority officials have taken place in the last few days, after a request by the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council, according to the National News Agency.
At a meeting Thursday in the Syrian border crossing of Jdeidet Yabous, Syrian officials discussed the “problems that have arisen from time to time, and the infiltration and smugglingalong the border, especially in the towns of Arsal, Toufeil, Maarboun and Mazraat Deir al-Ashaer.” The Syrians asked their counterparts to control the borders through focused efforts at monitoring posts covering the area, and setting up patrols to liaise between the two sides.
The Syrians handed over a report detailing the “names of Lebanese and Syrian individuals in Lebanese territory who are carrying out acts of smuggling people and weapons for destructive acts within Syrian territory,” the NNA said.
When Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn stated recently that Al-Qaeda operatives and weapons were being smuggled into Syria from the vicinity of Arsal, it set off a national uproar, as politicians criticized the statements for singling out a specific area as a supposed haven for terrorists.
The two sides agreed to hold further joint meetings and set up a joint “military-security sub-committee” grouping officials from the Governorate of the Bekaa and the Governorate of Rural Damascus.
A similar meeting took place Monday in Dabbousieh, along Lebanon’s northern border with Syria.
The governorates of Homs and Tartous from the Syrian side were represented, along with officials responsible for north Lebanon. Officials agreed to step up their coordination in a bid to bring the border situation under control.
The Syrian delegation announced that it had agreed, “during a meeting of the joint Lebanese-Syrian military committee, to see patrols from the Lebanese side of the border (Wadi Khaled), while the Syrians complained about the presence of armed men and smugglers on the Lebanese side, firing at the Syrian side.”
The Syrians discussed a number of “documented violations in terms of place, time and names, for the Lebanese to treat later on,” the NNA said.
Tensions in north Lebanon rose last month when three Lebanese fishermen were shot at by Syrian forces while out at sea, leading to the death of a Lebanese teenager. The Syrian authorities have reportedly blamed the Lebanese fishermen for the incident.