Syria controls gas flare

Syria had to call in international experts to help control a potentially disastrous gas flare at a newly discovered natural gas field near the ancient city of Palmyra, Mahmoud El Zou'bi, the Syrian prime minister, told a Lebanese newspaper.

The gas field was discovered 18 days ago in the Abi-Rabah area, some 50 miles southeast of Palmyra, which is 150 miles northeast of Damascus, the Lebanese paper Assafir quoted Zou'bi as saying in an interview published yesterday, Al Baath daily said today.