The Guardian: Syrian efforts to control borders with Iraq

The Guardian's Middle East ex-correspondent David Hirst underlined Thursday that Syria is serious about controling her side of borders with Iraq, saying "Syria has put up 7,000 soldiers along this central and most desolate stretch of 600 km frontiers."

Within his article in the Guardian, Hirst quoted a Syrian commander who is employed at the Wadi Sawab at the Syrian-Iraqi borders as saying "The Americans won't control their side of the border, accept our offers of collaboration, allow us the surveillance equipment we need, then accuse us of aiding a resistance that, they know, is basically Iraqi, even if some foreign fighters do get over our frontiers, which they also know cannot be sealed without investing resources way beyond our means."

"European diplomats tend to agree that an apparently systematic refusal to engage the regime at any level reflects the influence of neo-conservative hawks," Hirst said in the article.