Lebanese face entry restrictions at Syrian border

Syria's new administration has imposed restrictions on Lebanese crossing their shared border into Syria, a Lebanese security official and a Syrian official said on Saturday.

The restrictions, which come as Lebanon is seeking better ties with its neighbour under the new rulers, mean Lebanese who do not have a residency or family inside Syria will not be able to cross, the Lebanese security official said, though he noted that some exceptions were being made for those with other business inside Syria.

The Lebanese official described the measures as "temporary" and said they were the result of a dispute between the two sides over the apparent mistreatment by Lebanese authorities of Syrians entering or leaving Lebanon.

Lebanon's interior minister, who oversees border crossings, could not be reached for comment.

The Lebanese army separately said that five soldiers were wounded in clashes that broke out between soldiers and unidentified Syrians as the army tried to shut down an illegal border crossing near Baalbeck in the Lebanon's northeast.

There are thought to be dozens of informal crossings along the porous, rugged 370-km (230-mile) border between the two countries.

Lebanon has said it is looking forward to having the best neighbourly relations with Syria after rebels forced Bashar al-Assad from power on Dec. 8, opening a new chapter after ties that have often been fraught since the two countries became independent states in the 1940s.

The Iran-backed Lebanese Shi'ite Islamist group Hezbollah played a major part in propping up Assad during Syria's civil war, fighting the Sunni Islamist insurgents who finally toppled him last month and appointed the new Damascus administration.

Before that, the Syrian state led by the Assad dynasty dominated Lebanon for 15 years after the end of the Lebanese 1975-90 civil war, effectively controlling Lebanese politics until 2005 - an influence many Lebanese opposed, though others supported Syria's role.

The assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Beirut in 2005 prompted mass protests in Lebanon and Western pressure that forced Syria's withdrawal from its neighbour.

An initial international probe implicated senior Syrian and Lebanese figures in the killing.

While Syria denied involvement, former Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam said Assad had threatened Hariri months earlier - an accusation Assad denied.

Fifteen years later, a U.N.-backed court convicted three Hezbollah members in absentia over the assassination. Hezbollah denies any role.