Thousands more Syrian troops deployed on Lebanon border

Middle East analysts view movement as a signal from Syria that it intends to return Lebanon to its sphere of influence.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Syrian troops 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Syrian troops 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Syria has mobilized some 3,000 troops and heavy equipment near its border with eastern Lebanon, Beirut's As-Safir newspaper reported over the weekend. The troop movement is being carried out under the banner of a bid to stop illegal smuggling and cross-border criminal movement, but Middle East analysts are viewing it as a signal from Syria that it intends to return Lebanon to its sphere of influence. The troop movement could also form part of a response by Syria to the threat posed by Lebanon-based jihadis, although this seems less likely in light of the widespread view that Syria has backed a number of jihadi groups in Lebanon. In September, Damascus sent 10,000 additional troops and tanks to its border with northern Lebanon, and Syrian President Bashar Assad took part in a border drill held by the Syrian army. As in the current deployment, the Syrian regime justified the September troop buildup as a response to drug dealing and criminal movements. The Syrian troops were stationed near Lebanon's second-largest city, Tripoli, where al-Qaida has made a major effort to consolidate a base of support. Days later, a car bomb killed 17 people in Damascus, on the road to the country's international airport. The Assad regime subsequently accused Islamic extremists and said Lebanon was making insufficient efforts to crack down on al-Qaida members in its territory. Salafi (Sunni Islamist) groups tied to al-Qaida have sprung up in Palestinian refugee camps in northern Lebanon in recent years, leading to a prolonged clash between Lebanese troops and the Fatah al-Islam group in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon last year. The US has expressed growing concern over Syria's troop buildup around Lebanon, fearing that Damascus could exploit a perceived terrorist threat from Lebanon to reestablish the control over the country it lost when its troops withdrew in 2005. On October 8, the US promised to provide Lebanon with helicopters, military vehicles and other equipment worth millions of dollars, in addition to the estimated $400 million in American assistance provided to the Lebanese army since 2006. But that aid is insufficient to keep Lebanon from falling under the influence of the Hizbullah-Syria-Iran axis, Syria expert Dr. Barry Rubin said on Sunday. Rubin dismissed the idea that Syria was responding to jihadis in Lebanon, "since Syria is sponsoring most of the jihadi groups" there. The troop deployment "is, however, an escalation of Syrian pressure on Lebanon to ensure that the country moves steadily back under Syrian control. As a result of insufficient backing by the US and France, the [pro-Western] March 14 movement government had to make huge concessions to Syria and its Hizbullah client group. "This is to ensure that this trend continues and that the rules for the next elections are to the liking of Syria and Hizbullah, [and Iran of course,] to ensure their victory. It is letting the Lebanese know that Syria is back," Rubin said, adding that he did not believe Syria was planning an invasion of Lebanon at this time. In the meantime, unconfirmed reports by the private Syrian Satellite TV channel Dunia claimed that Damascus had ordered troops away from Syria's border with Iraq, in direct contradiction of the US's request to Syria to secure the border against al-Qaida fighters entering Iraq. The alleged withdrawal is part of Syria's remonstration following the American special forces raid on the Syrian town of Sukkariya last week aimed at killing a senior al-Qaida member overseeing the smuggling of foreign gunmen into Iraq, Dunia TV said. But Syria has denied the reports, telling Al-Jazeera that no soldiers had been withdrawn from its border with Iraq.