Iraq reopens main Syria crossing to refugees

Iraq reopened its main Al-Qaim crossing with Syria to refugees on Tuesday, after closing it for several weeks, but continued to deny entry to single men under 50, an Iraqi official said. Amr al-Khafaji, a spokesman for the displacement and migration ministry, which oversees the refugee camp at Al-Qaim, told AFP that 150 people had crossed from Syria on Tuesday.
But unmarried male Syrians under the age of 50 remain barred from entering Iraq, Khafaji said, a policy apparently aimed at keeping out military-age men who may pose a security threat. The crossing had been closed since August 15 for "security reasons," Khafaji said. Rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's regime took over the Syrian side of the crossing in July, although there has since been fighting between pro- and anti-regime forces near the border. Iraqi officials said that Syrian warplanes passed briefly through Iraqi airspace on August 23 in a bombing run on the town of Albu Kamal, on the Syrian side of the border.