The European Union (EU) has asked its legislators visiting Syria and Lebanon to present passports without Israeli visas. Belgian Parliament Member Frederique Ries has protested what she said might be a "purely administrative" e-mail directive that she received.

A foreign affairs committee delegation is scheduled to visit Syria and Lebanon on November 14. "These requirements are contrary to our practices and values,” Ries wrote in a letter to European Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering.