Syria Hosts Tour To Tout Border Security
Syria showed off new security measures on its long and porous border with Iraq during an organized tour for foreign diplomats and journalists.
Twenty-nine diplomats, including the U.S. military attache, were allowed on Saturday's rare inspection of Syria's side of the Tanaf border crossing, about 120 miles northeast of the capital, Damascus. They were then driven for some 100 miles along the border marked by police outposts and tall sand barriers.
The United States and some Iraqi officials accuse Syria of not doing enough to stop foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. Syria says it has taken all necessary measures but that it is impossible to fully control the sprawling desert along the border.
Authorities have increased the number of outposts to one every 400 meters in some zones along the 354-mile border, a Syrian officer said Saturday, stating each outpost was staffed with a half-dozen soldiers.
"There is no infiltration (into Iraq) here," the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity with Syrian military regulations. However, several Iraqis have been caught smuggling ammunition and tobacco into Syria, he said.
The Tanaf border crossing was a major gateway for Iraqis fleeing violence in their country following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the ousting of Saddam Hussein.
Over 1.5 million Iraqi refugees have fled to Syria, but the numbers seem to have decreased drastically since Damascus began imposing visa restrictions on Iraqis last month.
Mohammed Awad, who heads the immigration department at Tanaf, said only 400 to 500 Iraqis are entering Syria daily, down from almost 15,000 before restrictions were imposed.
The U.S. State Department said this week that Syria has agreed to allow U.S. interviewers into the country to screen Iraqi refugees for admission to the United States, clearing a major obstacle to the Bush administration's resettlement program.
Syria had for months refused to issue visas to the interviewers amid deepening tensions with Washington.