Motorists Queue at Lebanon's Northern Border Crossings

Cars and trucks formed on Tuesday long queues at Lebanon's northern border crossings after heavy security measures were taken by Lebanese and Syrian border posts, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said that the queues of vehicles reached several kilometers long at the Abboudiyeh and Arida crossings.

The measures taken by the border posts affected the movement of travelers from and into Syria, the agency said.

Commuters urged the authorities to act to resolve the crisis, it added.

A report said in June that security agencies have intensified their efforts to control Lebanon's land, air, and maritime borders.

The measures include setting up modern surveillance towers to monitor the illegal land crossings, it said.

The legal crossings will meanwhile be equipped with the necessary technology to connect them to main security databases to determine the identity of travelers to and from Lebanon, the report added.

Meanwhile, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said that contact was lost with a fishing boat off Arida on Monday night.

VDL identified the fishermen on board as Bilal Hamawi, Ezzeddine Yassine and Rashid Asafiri.

G.K.

H.K.