Border scuffles

After weeks of escalation, the Lebanese-Syrian border dispute is close to resolution, writes Sami Moubayed from Damascus

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At last there are reports of a breakthrough in the three week long dispute between Syria and Lebanon regarding their common border. A phone call between Lebanese designate Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora and Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moalem signalled a change of heart. The move has received overwhelming support from the Syrians.

Fed up with what they perceive as Lebanese mistreatment especially after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri in February, Syrians are now enjoying what they see as a return blow. The mood in Syria is that the Lebanese have been very ungrateful, and what the government is doing now is only temporary pressure that will not last long. Syria is the stronger, larger, and more powerful neighbour, the Syrians believe, and can use its position to pressure Lebanon, just as it did in 1950 when Syria's late prime minister Khalid Al-Azm closed Syria's border with Lebanon to prevent the influx of Lebanese goods. At the time, the Lebanese were infuriated by Al-Azm's measure, threatening that if he did not solve the crisis immediately they would turn to Israel. Of course, they did not, and Al-Azm hammered out the crisis with Lebanon's late prime minister Riyad Al-Sulh.

Everybody today is saying that the Lebanese should have thought twice before chanting phrases insulting the Syrian people, more so than the government of Syria, and saying: "the Syrian is dying!" Stories of innocent Syrian shoppers being attacked, Syrian cars being vandalised, Syrian passers-by being shouted at, sworn at, spat on, and in some cases beaten, have made their way back to Damascus and sent shockwaves throughout Syrian society, with anti- Lebanese rhetoric as strong as anti-Syrian rhetoric in Lebanon. In part as a result, Syria has been keeping hundreds of cargo trucks coming from Lebanon waiting at the Syrian-Lebanese border. A new checkpoint was created where Syrian authorities prevent any Syrian national bringing anything into Syria from Lebanon. Items varying from toothpaste, cheese and chocolate bars to designer clothes, shoes and electronics are all being confiscated.

The message is clear: nothing can be imported from Lebanon. Before the crisis, trade was estimated at $400 million between both countries, and Lebanon used to export 300 shipments per day through Syria. That number has shrunk to but a little over zero. The crisis is threatening 50,000 jobs in Lebanon, and costing business up to $300,000 per day. Many truck drivers, carrying perishable goods, are forced to keep their engines running to work their refrigerators. The drivers, living in miserable conditions with no bathrooms, and under the hot July sun, have spent weeks behind the wheel. This has caused panic in Lebanon's business community since Syria is the only land transit for Lebanese exports, which are mainly fruits and vegetables. The other outlets would be the Mediterranean, which is impossible, air through shipments over the Persian Gulf, which is too expensive, and Lebanon's other border with Israel, which has been closed since 1948.

Officially, Syria has not closed its border with Lebanon, but is applying tight security measures to combat smuggling of arms and explosives from Lebanon. The reason, officials say, is that over the past few weeks, cargo trucks carrying arms and ammunition have made their way into Syria, resulting in several terrorist operations inside the Syrian capital. Recently, a group of terrorists was apprehended, after much shooting, on Mount Qassiun overlooking the Syrian capital. Earlier this summer, Syria announced that it had arrested one man and killed another who had been planning an attack in Damascus on behalf of a terrorist organisation called Jund Al-Sham. This group had allegedly planned to send a three-year-old girl with explosives into the crowded Palace of Justice in Damascus.

The Syrians say the weapons and money for these terrorist networks is coming from Iraq and Lebanon. This month two cargo trucks found allegedly carrying explosives tried to cross the border into Syria. One was coming from the Bekaa Valley, carrying 100 kilogrammes of TNT, the other from the northern border with weapons hidden in cement containers.

To increase pressure on Lebanon, Syria has arrested several fishermen accused of entering Syrian waters and Syria's Labour Minister Diala Haj Aref has demanded compensation for 37 Syrian workers killed in Lebanon during the anti-Syrian frenzy that took over the country after the murder of Al-Hariri in February 2005.

Another 280 have been wounded, she added. She pointed out that compensation for their families was being negotiated between outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Syrian Prime Minister Mohamed Naji Al-Otari. Syrians, who have been asking why their government failed to demand compensation until now, warmly received this move. Official statements from Lebanon did little to defuse the situation. Ashraf Refi, director of internal security in Lebanon, appeared on Future TV and said that the 37 Syrian workers had not been killed by anti-Syrian Lebanese. One died in a car accident while a second was run down by a car. A third had been killed by poisonous gas during work, another murdered by a fellow Syrian, a fifth drowned, a sixth murdered by his wife, a seventh electrocuted and an eighth committed suicide.

For his part, President Bashar Al-Assad has promised to solve the border crisis with Lebanon while Al-Siniora promised to make an early visit to Syria to negotiate an end to the problem. The latter is what the Syrians want. They want Al-Siniora to visit Damascus, apologise and request a rapprochement with the Syrians. They have not backed down, despite requests from the Arab League, Egypt and Kuwait, but rather, are waiting for an official reaction from Lebanon. All of these measures have aroused the anger of the US administration.

On 22 July, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unexpected stop in Beirut to congratulate Al-Siniora on the creation of his cabinet and used the event to call for the disarmament of Hizbullah. She then addressed Syria and said: "We would like to see the day when there are good, neighbourly relations between Syria and Lebanon based on mutual respect and equality. But good neighbours don't close their borders to their neighbours." She wrapped up saying that due to Syrian measures, "trade is being strangled" in Lebanon. Her visit, the first by a senior US official since Colin Powell's May 2003 visit, has been interpreted differently by the Syrians and Lebanese. While some see it as having negative implications for the Syrians, many in Damascus see it otherwise.

First, Rice met President Emile Lahoud, who is still Syria's strongest friend in Lebanon. By doing so, she effectively extended recognition to him as president, a post that was renewed by the Syrians in 2004, arousing the anger of the Lebanese, the Americans and the French, triggering UN Resolution 1559 against Syria. The Lebanese daily Al-Diyar ran a story on 23 July claiming that a senior US diplomat in Brussels disclosed that Lebanon was now high on America's priorities in the Middle East.

It was a model for democracy and co- existence that the Americans claimed they wanted to promote in the Arab world. According to Al-Diyar, Rice came to Beirut having secured an approval from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from the occupied Shebaa Farms in South Lebanon. These farms are the only remaining occupied parts of Lebanon after Israel withdrew from the south in May 2000. This plan, supported by France and Germany, would lead to the implementation of what remains of UN Resolution 1559; mainly, the disarmament of Hizbullah. After all, the Shia resistance has claimed since 2000 that it will not lay down its arms until the Shebaa Farms are liberated.

Once this is achieved, Hizbullah might have to disarm, since no reason would remain for its militarisation, and transform itself into a political party with no military agenda. After withdrawal, Hizbullah's fighters would be absorbed into the Lebanese army, which would have to deploy along the Lebanese-Israeli border to maintain security. To materialise such a plan, the US knows that it needs the cooperation of two countries: Syria and Iran. The Americans will court the Syrians, temporarily, to achieve this result. Meanwhile, Syria will continue to use whatever means at its disposal to pressure the Lebanese to change attitude towards Damascus. If anything, Syrian measures, and US designs for Lebanon show that the role of the Syrians in Lebanon is far from over.