The Daily Star - Politics - Syria cancels special border permits
MASNAA: Syria cancelled "special permits" used to ease border formalities with Lebanon, often granted as perks to its allies in its tiny neighbor, according to a security source at the border.
The annual permits were issued to Syrian and Lebanese politicians, security officials and businessmen - free of charge for some and costing up to about $2,000 for others.
The permits allowed holders to cross without customs or other formalities for both the vehicle and its passengers. All nationals of Syria and Lebanon are allowed visa-free visits to each other's countries.
The move comes as Syria speeds up its troop pullout from Lebanon after a 29-year deployment, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Damascus has said its last soldiers - estimated at 4,000 - and intelligence agents will be out by April 30.
Syrian authorities scrapped the permits and closed the "military lane," a parallel route to the Beirut-Damascus highway, the source said at the Masnaa border post.
The system has been criticized for encouraging corruption.
Good! All that is left for them to do now is remove their 1 million plus leeches and squatters on the Lebanese economy, their security cockroaches imbedded throughout Lebanese society and institutions, establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon, and try, in a civilized way --though civility is too much to ask of Syrian louts-- to iron out differences with Lebanon.
ReplyDelete