By Rasha Elass, DAMASCUS (Reuters) – For generations, Lebanese shoppers have journeyed to neighboring Syria to stock their larders and buy clothes and even furniture at bargain prices.But many have stayed at home since the assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri last February put a chill on once-cosy relations between the two countries."I used to buy everything from Syria. My wife and daughters would head up there every couple of weeks to buy food, clothes, washing powder because it is less than half the price," said Hassan, a Lebanese driver with seven children living at home.
"We haven’t been since Hariri’s death because we heard that they have been insulting and humiliating the Lebanese. I am too scared to let my family go but it is really costing us. We cannot afford to have all the stuff we have been used to." With tensions between Syria and Lebanon at an all-time high, especially since a United Nations inquiry implicated top Syrian officials in Hariri’s murder, Syrian merchants are suffering.