Syria sends troops to border

Syria sends troops to border
U.S., Beirut warn against incursion.

Published Wednesday, October 8, 2008

ABBOUDIYEH, Lebanon (AP) - A few tents and trucks dotting a green hill across the river are about all that is visible of a Syrian troop deployment on Lebanon’s northern border - a buildup that has raised concerns of a possible Syrian incursion.

There was no sign today that the Syrian troops were preparing to cross the border. Syria said the deployment is aimed at preventing smuggling from Lebanon.

But the United States and some anti-Syrian politicians in Beirut have warned that Syria could attempt an incursion, a concern raised especially after a Sept. 27 car bombing in Damascus killed 17 people.

In Washington, Deputy Department of State spokesman Robert Wood on Monday said, "Any intervention by Syrian troops into Lebanon would be unacceptable."

Syria’s secular government has said the Damascus bombers were Islamic militants who entered from another country, though it did not specify which. Syrian President Bashar Assad had warned days earlier that militants were setting up base in northern Lebanon and that they could threaten Syrian security.

Two days after the Damascus blast, suspected militants bombed a bus carrying Lebanese soldiers in the northern port city of Tripoli, killing seven people - the second such attack against the Lebanese military. But there was no immediate sign of a connection to the Damascus bombing, although also Islamic militants are suspected.

The head of the anti-Syrian bloc in Parliament, Saad Hariri, rejected Assad’s claims of militants operating in northern Lebanon, saying the accusations and the Syrian deployment were part of a "series of intimidations against Lebanon."

The lawmaker’s father, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was assassinated in a car bomb in 2005 that many in Lebanon blame on Syria. Damascus has denied involvement, but international pressure after the bombing caused Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon after occupying the country for nearly 30 years.

Hadi Hobeish, a lawmaker allied to Hariri representing the Akkar region bordering Syria, accused Damascus of "attempting to give the excuse that there are extremists in the north to return to Lebanon."

Assad spoke to Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on Sunday, assuring him that the deployment is in line with U.N. resolutions calling on Syria to prevent smuggling and weapons traffic across the border, the Lebanese state news agency reported. Lebanon’s military said that it had been informed of the Syrian moves.

Lebanese press reports have said as many as 10,000 troops are involved in the deployment, something Lebanese military officials have described as exaggerated and inaccurate.