The barrier, which already ran intermittently along the porous border, is now being rebuilt and floodlit. The work, which started more than a month ago, is supposed to make a 130-kilometer (80-mile) long sand barrier some three meters (10 feet) high.
Damascus in September undertook to tighten control of its border after being accused by Washington of turning a blind eye to militants who cross into Iraq to join insurgents fighting US-led forces in the strife-torn country.
The United States already imposed sanctions in May over the Iraq issue, as well as allegations Syria was supporting terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction and over its role in neighboring Lebanon.
In addition, Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi on November 5 urged the European Union to use its influence with Syria and Iran to stop them from "fueling violence" in his country.
Damascus maintains that it is difficult to completely control the 600 kilometer frontier, a similar length to the US border with Mexico.
Allawi announced on Monday that the border with Syria and Jordan would be closed under emergency measures imposed across much of the country as US and Iraqi forces prepared for an assault on the rebel city of Fallujah.
The city lies on the road leading to Jordan and Syria.
The barrier is supposed to "stop infiltrations on both sides of the frontier," a border guard told journalists who were invited to witness the construction near Abu Kamal, some 500 kilometers east of Damascus.
A similar construction is being bulldozed into place at the Tanaf border crossing to the south, he said.
This part of the frontier is "under surveillance 24 hours a day," said the guard, and soldiers are constantly patrolling the area.
At Abu Kamal, an AFP correspondent could see American soldiers on the Iraqi side of the border watching the activity through binoculars.
At the crossing itself, a line of cars and trucks waited patiently for the border to reopen. Leaflets handed out by US troops explained to waiting travelers that the border has been closed "for their own security" until further notice.
© 2004 Agence France-Presse
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