| Interesting story in itself, more interesting in light of the fact that the investigation of the Hariri boom in Leb is turning toward Damascus. |
A Syrian official source said yesterday that Syrian authorities have arrested 70 infiltrators of various Arab nationalities, who tried to cross into neighboring Iraq. The source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the detainees were from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Yemen, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Kuwait. The source added that Syria âhad done its best to control its (600 kilometers) long border with Iraq and deployed another full military division along the borderâ to support guards already there. But it was âimpossible to completely control borders from one sideâ, when the other side is not cooperating, the source said, in an apparent reference to Iraqi and US troops.Syria says it has deployed a military division of 7,000 soldiers along its border with Iraq and established a four-meter high sand barrier along the border with monitoring outposts every 400 meters or three kilometers, depending on how security sensitive the area is. But Damascus is under increasing pressure from Washington which accuses Syria of not doing enough to control its border with Iraq. Damascus rejects that claim, saying it does not receive cooperation from the US or Iraq. âThe possibility to control the border in the desert is difficult, so it has to be controlled by helicopters,â the source said. This is not happening because of ânon-coordinationâ from the other side, he added.