AP: Syria threatens to close Lebanon border (if UN deployed there) [View All]

[Eugene]

Wednesday, August 23, 2006 · Last updated 8:55 a.m. PT

Syria threatens to close Lebanon border

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HELSINKI, Finland -- Syria has threatened to close its border with Lebanon
if U.N. peacekeepers are deployed along the frontier, Finland's foreign minister
said Wednesday.

"They will close their borders for all traffic in case U.N. troops will be
deployed along the Lebanon-Syria border," Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said
after meeting his Syrian counterpart Walid Moallem in Helsinki.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has rejected the U.N. deployment along Syria's
border with Lebanon, saying such a move would create animosity between the two
countries.

"This is an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and a hostile position," Assad said
in an interview with Dubai Television.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Finland_Mideast.html