BEIRUT, Oct 6 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Defence Minister, Elias Bou Saab, emphasised the need to increase cooperation between the Lebanese and Syrian armies, to control the border in the Bekaa Valley and stop smuggling.
“I cannot start any direct dialogues with the Syrian authorities to increase cooperation, if the government does not make a decision in this regard,” Bou Saab said.
He added that Syrian and Lebanese armies are deployed on the borders in the Bekaa Valley, to prevent smuggling but more efforts are needed in this area.
However, he said that, control on the northern borders with Syria is more advanced. “We can assure you that trucks cannot pass through these borders,” he said.
There are several illegal borders in Lebanon that the government is trying to control, in a bid to stop smuggling of products and protect Lebanese merchants and producers.– NNN-NNA
