Syria-Lebanon border reopens after 5 years of closure

By Wassim Saif al-Din

BEIRUT

The border between Syria and Lebanon was officially reopened Thursday after five years of closure.

A reopening ceremony was held in the town of Al-Qaa on the Lebanese side of the border.

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, the ceremony was attended by Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanon’s director of public security, and Syrian Interior Minister Mohamed al-Shaar.

The Jousi crossing -- which links Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province to the Syrian province of Hom -- will be officially opened to cross-border traffic on Friday.

“Security coordination is ongoing between the two countries,” Ibrahim said during Thursday’s ceremony.

In a subsequent statement, al-Shaar, for his part, stressed his country’s support for “anything that promotes normal relations… between Lebanon and Syria”.

“There are no longer any obstacles preventing people from returning to Syria [from Lebanon],” he said.

At Thursday’s ceremony, Nawar al-Sahili, a Shia member of Lebanon’s parliament, said the border reopening would “reflect positively on Lebanon”.

The crossing was sealed in 2012 after armed militants captured the nearby town of Jousi, traditionally considered the main link between the two countries.