Lebanon's Blended Border Zone

KNAISSEH, Lebanon -- For years, residents of this Lebanese village have slipped in and out of Syria over a border that was never officially marked. Even after Syria set up sand barricades in 2006 to stop smuggling, they found ways to make the journey.

Last week, after agreeing to establish diplomatic ties for the first time in their complex history, the leaders of Lebanon and Syria announced that they will resume work on officially demarcating the border.

But the residents of Knaisseh say such talk means little to them.

"They could build walls. We would still find a way to cross to the other side," said Fadlallah Khodr, a shepherd and father of 10 who lives in Knaisseh. "It is a matter of survival. Half of my family lives on the other side. I cross there on a daily basis, to see them and to shop."

The villagers say any move toward formalizing the border would disrupt their lives. Like Khodr, many here have family and friends in Syria, and marriages between Syrians and Lebanese are common. The nearest major city, Homs, is a 30-minute motorbike trip away in Syria, closer than any large village on the Lebanese side.

Syria dominated Lebanon for three decades, but opposition to Syrian tutelage started growing after the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafiq al-Hariri, in February 2005. Two months later, Syrian troops withdrew from the country.

Since then, Syria has occasionally closed the ill-defined border and placed barricades along it. The measures succeeded in slowing down villagers trying to cross but failed to stop the smuggling that takes place in both directions.

The measures "made our lives more difficult and our trips more painful, but we didn't stop going there," said Abou Louai, a Knaisseh resident who said he buys tomatoes, bread and diesel on daily visits to Syria.

The border remained unmarked following Syria and Lebanon's independence from France in the 1940s, but the issue took on greater importance amid a dispute over Shebaa Farms, which abuts Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Israel has occupied the slice of land since the 1967 Middle East war.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Thursday after the summit with Lebanon that "the demarcation in the Shebaa Farms won't be possible in light of the Israeli occupation."

But Lebanon's minister of public works, Ghazi Aridi, called Moualem's remarks "a contradiction to what the Lebanese groups, including Syria's ally, have agreed on, and that is to define the property of the land in order to return it through diplomatic means. But we want to remain positive and hope this is a fresh start at the level of relations with Damascus."

In 2006, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1680 called on Syria to establish formal diplomatic ties with Lebanon and cooperate with the Lebanese government to demarcate the border in disputed areas. Another Security Council resolution, 1701, led to a cease-fire in the 2006 war between Israel and the radical Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and called for cessation of arms smuggling.