* Syrian army still holds Rabia crossing at Iraq border
* Rebels captured three crossings with Iraq and Turkey
* Iraq calls on its citizens in Syria to return home
By Jamal al-Badrani
RABIA, Iraq, July 21 (Reuters) – Syrian truck driver Abu
Sara used to feel scared when he crossed the border into Iraq,
fearing attacks in a country gripped by sectarian violence. Now,
as he exits a Syria in even greater turmoil, he feels a sense of
relief.
“Us drivers, we feel the danger of the road as we enter the
Syrian territories, but we feel safe when we are near the
crossings between the two sides,” he said at the northern Iraqi
border crossing in Rabia, 100 km (62 miles) west of the Iraqi
city of Mosul.
Rabia was still in the hands of government forces, he said
on Friday night. The Syrian flag fluttered above the border
crossing and a huge mural of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of
embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was on display.
Other crossings with Iraq and Turkey have fallen in the
hands of the rebels, the first time they have held sway over
Syria’s frontiers.
On Thursday, the rebels claimed control of the Abu Kamal
crossing with Iraq – one of the most important trade routes in
the Middle East and the main border post on the Baghdad-Damascus
highway – and of the crossings at Jarablus and Bab al-Hawa at
the border with Turkey.
With the rebels making gains in the fighting, some Iraqi
officials were reported as saying that the rebels had captured
all four border posts with Iraq, while others said only Abu
Kamal had fallen.
Abu Sara said the roads around Rabia remained dangerous. He
parks his truck close to Syrian military checkpoints to feel
safer, he added.
“Every day we are exposed to the danger of the road, we face
bandits, not necessarily armed operations. But this indicates
how fragile the security situation is in Syria – it is not able
to control the roads and the thieves.”
Syrian government forces pounded rebels in Damascus
overnight, battling to reverse opposition gains in the aftermath
of the assassination of Assad’s security chiefs.
Iraq has reinforced key points along its 680 km (420 mile)
desert border with Syria with troops and increased patrols,
according to military officials.
At Rabia, a main crossing close to the Turkish border and
northeastern tip of Syria, the frontier gates are open for eight
hours a day and Iraqi guards said they had noticed an increase
in the number of Iraqi families returning from Syria – though no
apparent rebel offensive.
“We haven’t noticed anything odd happening on the Syrian
side but their customs procedures have become more complicated,”
Iraqi customs official Abu Ali said. “We haven’t heard any
shooting or any attacks on the crossing by the (rebel Syrian)
Free Army.”
He said bursts of gunfire could sometimes be heard during
the night, but put this down to Iraqi troops firing on smugglers
who have become more active, taking advantage of a worsening
security situation. Syrian police still manned the land
surrounding the border, he said.
The Iraqi army recently sent a regiment to reinforce
security at the Rabia crossing. Officials said they had seen
Syrian government troops on the other side but noticed that
their numbers had dwindled as the Syrian crisis escalated.
BULLET HOLES
Last week Iraq called on tens of thousands of its citizens
still living in Syria to return home because of escalating
violence.
“During the last few days, we started to see Iraqis
returning from Syria. I saw between five and 10 Iraqi families
coming back, they carry their luggage, use taxis,” said Myasar
al-Ahmed, owner of a small Iraqi shop in a mud hut selling
engine oil at the desolate border crossing.
“Some cars coming from Syria have bullet holes,” he said.
Most appear to be coming through the al-Waleed border gate,
close to Rabia.
Atheel al-Nujaifi, governor of Nineveh province where Rabia
is situated, said there had not been a large influx of Iraqis
returning through the crossing.
“Things are going on in a normal way, I am in continuous
contact with the crossing,” he said, adding that the province
had buses on standby to transport people returning on foot.
On both sides of the border there are villages that depend
on smuggling to make ends meet, especially as conditions
worsened inside Syria, locals said. There are fewer Syrian
troops around, making illicit trade through illegal crossings
easier.
Syrian checks at the crossing is tighter, said Muamar
al-Luhaibi, owner of a travel office in Mosul.
“Syrian security forces used to have their eyes closed when
searching our luggage before, but now we wait for hours.”
He said he had brought 33 people into Iraq from Syria on
Friday, some Iraqis fleeing violence, some coming for medical
treatment and others on tourist visas.
“Sometimes we were intercepted by (Syrian) Free Army
checkpoints, some of them wear military uniforms, others
civilian clothes, but when they know that we are Iraqis, they
allow us to pass,” he said.
“Their treatment of us is good, but they ask us if there are
Syrian soldiers or citizens with us.”
(Editing by Sylvia Westall and Alessandra Rizzo)
