Date: Aug 29, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Hariri slams Syria for politicizing Nassib BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Tuesday blasted Syria’s requirements for opening the Nassib border crossing, after Syria’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali defended the move, saying “Lebanon needs Syria more.” Reports had suggested the Nassib border crossing between Syria and Jordan will not reopen to Lebanese goods unless ties between Beirut and Damascus are restored. Hariri’s Future Movement criticized the political preconditions. “The Syrian government is blackmailing Lebanon with the Nassib border crossing,” Hariri said after a meeting with the Future bloc at his Downtown residence. Hariri’s rebuke came in response to remarks made by Ali, after the ambassador met with Speaker Nabih Berri. Ali said the regime and its allies had achieved a “victory” in laying the groundwork to allow refugees to return and the Nassib crossing to be potentially reopened, according to a statement from the Parliament. “Enemies are now looking for ways to put their pride aside, so what about the brotherly country whose land borders are all with Syria, in addition to occupied Palestine?” Ali said, adding, “Syria of course needs Lebanon, but Lebanon needs it more.” Earlier Tuesday, Future Movement’s caretaker Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk denounced any political preconditions to the opening of Syria’s Nassib border crossing to Lebanese products. In a joint televised news conference with General Security head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to mark the agency’s 73rd anniversary, Machnouk said in reference to the crossing, “Talk about Syrian preconditions to opening the sole border [to the rest of the Arab world] to Lebanon doesn’t [reflect] the Syrian people, and political negotiations shouldn’t be a condition [for its opening].” The Nassib crossing, in the southern Deraa region, was recaptured by the Syrian regime in July, three years after opposition forces had seized control of it, severing a crucial trade route between Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Gulf. However, Ali insisted ties still remain intact. “The ties are standing as long as I remain ambassador in Lebanon, and there is a Lebanese ambassador in Syria,” he said. Also speaking to reporters, Hariri criticized the international community for the lack of funds allocated for refugee returns. He said the recently launched Russian-led initiative can’t secure the return of refugees to Syria if it is not sufficiently funded. Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil also addressed refugee returns in a televised statement following the FPM’s Strong Lebanon bloc’s weekly meeting. “I consider that the Russian initiative [will] benefit Lebanon, in creating a balance at the international level, so that there isn’t a unilateral international decision to link the return of [refugees] to a political solution in Syria,” he said. “We want the Syrians to go back as soon as possible under dignified and safe conditions.” Bassil added: “All Lebanese are called upon to consider the interest of the Lebanese people, the interest of Lebanon, and not to link this matter with any other regional issue.” Machnouk rejects conditions to Nassib crossing's opening to Lebanese goods BEIRUT: Caretaker Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk Tuesday denounced any political prerequisites to the opening of Syria’s Nassib border crossing to Lebanese products. In a joint televised news conference with General Security head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to mark the agency’s 73rd anniversary, Machnouk said, “At the beginning of the Syrian crisis, we opened all the land, sea and aerial [borders] to the Syrians because the Syrian people welcomed the Lebanese during the 2006 [Israeli war on Lebanon].” “Talk about Syrian preconditions to opening the sole border [to the rest of the Arab world] to Lebanon doesn’t [reflect] the Syrian people, and political negotiations shouldn’t be a condition [for its opening],” he added, referring to the Nassib crossing. Machnouk’s comments appear to be in response to reports that the Nassib border crossing between Syria and Jordan will not reopen to Lebanese goods unless ties between Beirut and Damascus are restored. The crossing, in the southern Deraa region, was recaptured by the Syrian regime in July, three years after opposition forces had seized control of it, severing a crucial trade route among Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Gulf. The issue of normalizing communications with the Syrian government remains a controversial matter in Lebanon, with some sides refusing to restore political ties with Damascus and others, seeing no alternative, encouraging it.