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Al-Assad supporters among those fleeing likely strike

The Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria has been like a beehive since the early hours of Saturday, receiving a new wave of Syrians shortly after the UN weapons inspectors left Damascus, a Lebanese border guard said. Rama Jubeili, a wife of a Syrian businessman and mother of three, is a supporter of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

“We only came just as we are expecting a strike, but we will return very soon. It is like a vacation for us, then we will go back soon to support our government,” Jubeili told dpa. “So far, there is no change in Damascus, but we preferred to move out of the city now fearing the strike might target civilian areas. You never know with the Americans. They work for their interests as well as Israel’s,” she added.

The inspectors, who arrived in Damascus earlier in August to inspect areas of alleged chemical weapon attacks, left the country Saturday morning. Diplomats said their collected samples will then be analysed in Europe over 10-14 days. France, which has been one of the strongest supporters of an armed response in Syria, called for international action against al-Assad’s government, even without a UN mandate.

The United States is weighing the possibility of a military response to al-Assad’s regime alleged chemical weapons attack on areas outside Damascus which the opposition said killed hundreds. Cars with Syrian licence plates queued at the border to enter Lebanon, mostly carrying women and children. “So far 250 people have crossed from Syria into Lebanon in the past two hours,” according to border guard.

He said Lebanon has received in the past two days some 15,000 Syrians, mostly from areas under the regime control in Damascus. He expected the number to rise between Saturday and Sunday. He added that most of them have relatives or houses in Beirut while others might stay one night and travel abroad. Another supporter of al-Assad’s regime, who only gave her first name as Dina, was crossing the border in a luxurious car.

“We will stay a week in Lebanon and see what happens. If it gets worse we will travel to France where my son is studying,” she said. A few kilometres away, Jaber and Brothers, a well-known stop over in the town of Chtaura, was bustling with the new arrivals asking for coffee and sandwiches. “We are working 24 hours to service the people arriving from Syria,” said Ali, a waiter in the rest stop.

Other Syrians crossing the border were refugees from rebel-controlled areas who feared a harsh retaliation by al-Assad, if the West attacks Syria. Amina, who used to live in the rebel-controlled Maadamiyet al-Sham suburb before taking refuge in a school in Damascus last month, decided to bring her four daughters to a Syrian refugee camp in al-Marjee, in eastern Lebanon. “My daughters were too scared to stay out of fear of what al-Assad’s forces might do to us if the West strikes,” she said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on August 29 that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon rose from 703,000 to 716,284 in just a few days, and that they have put out an emergency plan in co-operation with the Lebanese government to accommodate more. The emergency plan includes provision of food, rent allowances, the securing of new shelter areas, and necessary medical assistance, said Dana Suleiman, the UNHCR’s spokeswoman in Beirut.

Lebanon is currently under extreme pressure as the numbers of Syrians have exceeded its capacity. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman chaired a ministerial meeting earlier this week to discuss the measures taken in case of a strike on Syria, and the measures focused on finding shelter for the new wave of Syrians fleeing into Lebanon.

Weedah Hamzah, "Al-Assad supporters among those fleeing likely strike," Business recorder. 2013-09-01.
Keywords: Political science , Social sciences , Weapons inspectors , Chemical weapons , Emergency plan , Refugees , President Bashar al-Assad , United Nation , Damascus , Lebanon , Syria , Israel , UNHCR , UN