Jordan: Syria opens border with kingdom

Jordan said Syria opened its border crossing with the kingdom on Wednesday after nearly a two-month closure following military operations in the southern flashpoint town of Daraa. "Syria opened today the Daraa post. It is open from 0300 GMT to 1500 GMT," Taher Adwan, the information minister and government spokesman, told AFP. Adwan did not say if the crossing would remain open. Daraa is about five kilometres (three miles) from the Jordanian frontier. Syria has two border crossings with Jordan. It did not close the other post. Abdul Salam Thyabat, head of trade chamber in the Jordanian border town of Ramtha, said vehicle movement between the two sides are active. "Hundreds of Jordanian and Syrian crossed the border today. We are very pleased," he said. According to a toll released Tuesday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the violence has claimed the lives of 1,297 civilians and 340 security force members in Syria since the anti-regime uprising erupted mid-March.