Two Lebanese obstruct Syrian buses on border area

A number of Lebanese youth stood in the way of a Syrian bus last evening and threw stones at it in the Lebanese region of al-Menieh near the Syrian-Lebanese borderline.

The bus according to SANA works to the Zeitouneh Tours on the Aleppo-Beirut line.

Eyewitnesses told SANA those "youths blocked the bus's path in the region and broke its windows, but there were no injuries among passengers." Another group of Lebanese young men stood in the way of another Syrian bus that works for the Nahas Tours on Aleppo-Beirut line yesterday afternoon and insulted passengers as well destroyed the bus windows.

The bus driver Abdul Rahman Jassem and eyewitnesses at the site of the incident noted the young men were provided with weapons and rode on motorcycles. They clarified that a Lebanese patrol to the Lebanese army came to the site and controlled the situation while there were no injuries reported among passengers.

It is worth noting that Syrian-Lebanese border tensions occured following the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, where rumors spread of attacks by Lebanese on Syrian civilians, and rumors of Syrian civilians attacking Lebanese civilians. At the time, the rumors greatly effected border traffic between the two neighbor states, rumors that raised anxiety of citizens on both sides, but seemed untrue and meant to harm Syrian -Lebanese relations.

Though many Lebanese and Syrians have strong blood ties between them, many Syrians visit Lebanon for vacationing and doing banking there, and provided inexpensive labor force in sectors such as agriculture, while many Lebanese visit Syria also for vacationing and to enjoy affordable shopping for products and services.