(New York Times) Katherine Zoepf - Syria has suddenly increased inspections on commercial traffic coming from Lebanon, leaving hundreds of trucks stranded at border crossings for more than a week. More than 300 trucks used to cross into Syria daily, they say, but now no more than about 40 are allowed to enter. The new border inspections, which began about three weeks ago, are putting a huge strain on Lebanon's farms and industries, which must ship their products through Syria in order to sell to other Arab markets. Judith Harik, a former political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said Syria could be taking revenge for its humiliating forced retreat from Lebanon.
2005-07-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive