Syria removing military checkpoints in Golan

Israel is `concerned` that Syria`s decision to remove military checkpoints on the road to Kuneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights could be a preparation for war, the Arab newspaper Al-Hiyat al-Jedidia reported Saturday.

According to the report, the checkpoints in question had been in place for 40 years, ever since the Six Day War.

Al-Hiyat also claimed that the IDF was conducted maneuvers on the Golan Heights that foreign journalists were barred from covering.

The newspaper also reported that Israel had blocked access to areas on the Golan Heights from which villages and towns were visible. The report also listed the equipment the IDF had left in place, which included bulldozers and 70 tank outposts.

The report came two days after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni addressed Syrian concerns that Israel planned to attack the country. Livni said that the IDF was conducting exercises and nothing more.

Speaking at a meeting with her Danish counterpart, Per Stig Moller, Livni said that Israel wanted to live in peace with its neighbors.

`Israel, unfortunately, has to be constantly prepared. The IDF`s job is to protect Israeli citizens, and for this it must train, and for this exercises were created. It would be a shame… to interpret this otherwise,` Livni said.

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