Another 6 Truckers Head to Lebanon after Syria Border Entrapment

Six more Lebanese truck drivers are on their way to Lebanon, days after they were stranded on the Syrian-Jordanian border after rebels seized the Syrian side, their syndicate said on Monday.

Another eight had arrived in Lebanon on Sunday.

“Six Lebanese truckers who were stranded on the Nasib border crossing between Syria and Jordan are now en route to Lebanon,” Omar al-Ali, head of the syndicate of the owners of refrigerator trucks, told the National News Agency.

He identified five of them as Obeid al-Wees, Hussein Mohammed al-Wees, Ali Serhan Samaha, Ahmed Jassem al-Daher and Haidar Shakraji.

Al-Ali said he received a phone call from a person following up on the case, who told him that “six truck drivers were allowed to go through the Nasib border crossing this afternoon ... and head to the Sweida area and they're on their way to the Lebanese-Syrian border.”

Al-Ali noted that he personally spoke with five of the drivers.

“Nineteen Lebanese truckers were stranded – eight of them arrived (in Lebanon) yesterday, six or five are on their way home, while the others will – God willing -- arrive safely,” he added.

Turning to the crisis of the Lebanese truckers stranded on the al-Omari border crossing between Saudi Arabia and Jordan, al-Ali said “120 drivers are trapped their.”

“We're following up on their case hour by hour and we're exerting efforts with the relevant officials to secure their return as soon as possible,” he noted.

“There are many options for their return – they might be obliged to leave their trucks there and return by air or we might send them a ferry that would transport them along with their trucks by sea,” al-Ali pointed out.

“All options are on the table, except for their continued entrapment on the border,” he vowed.

Meanwhile, NNA said six Lebanese truckers crossed into Lebanon Monday through the al-Masnaa post, identifying them as Sirajeddine al-Haidari, Youssef Mohammed, Omar al-Sarout, Haitham Bislit, Ahmed Othman and Mahmoud al-Badawi.

On Monday, the agency noted that the deadline for the trucks' departure from Saudi territory was nearing and that they would be “fined” if they didn't leave on time.

Head of the union of Arab tribes Sheikh Jassem al-Askar said in comments to media outlets on Saturday that he was carrying out a series of contacts with a number of tribe leaders, who wield influence in Syria, to ensure the release of the Lebanese truck drivers.

At least 30 Lebanese truck drivers were stranded on the Syrian-Jordanian border, in the free zone, after rebels seized the Syrian side, prompting Amman to close a frontier crossing.

Al-Ali has said that the drivers were trying to cross from Syria into Jordan, but were stranded after Amman closed the Nasib crossing.

The drivers entered the crossing on Wednesday, as a group of rebels, backed by al-Nusra Front, seized control of it after clashes with government forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said around 300 cars and trucks were stuck at the crossing, and reported looting of the border passage by rebels and local residents.

Y.R.