Syria supplies Lebanon, waives fees to help aid flow
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-17 16:44
Syria is sending non-military supplies to Lebanon to help it cope with
Israeli attacks, the head of the council overseeing bilateral ties said on
Monday.
Syrian authorities have also waived airport and port fees for aid bound to
Lebanon, Nasri al-Khoury, Secretary General of the Higher Syrian-Lebanese
Council, told Reuters.
"Aid from Syria, especially medical, has already arrived in Lebanon and a
cargo from Kuwait at Damascus airport is on its way," Khoury said.
"President Bashar al-Assad has given his instructions to open Syria's ports,
airports and roads to help Lebanon."
Khoury said more power was flowing through a joint electricity grid to help
Lebanon compensate for capacity destroyed by Israeli air strikes.
Syrian airports, ports and border crossings have become Lebanon's only outlet
to the world after Israel blockaded the country from the sea and bombed its
transport infrastructure.
The two countries have never had diplomatic relations since Western powers
carved them into separate states in 1920.
The Higher Syrian-Lebanese Council, based in Damascus and headed by a
Lebanese, coordinates everything from trade and transport to official links.
The council has kept functioning although ties between Lebanon and Syria
deteriorated after last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafik al-Hariri.
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