Nawaf Salam meets Ahmed al-Sharaa to debate border safety, refugees, and previous political killings below ousted Syrian chief Bashar al-Assad.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has held talks in Damascus with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in his first official go to to Syria, in an effort to recalibrate relations between the 2 nations, which have been strained for many years.
The diplomatic shuttle on Monday marks the highest-level Lebanese delegation visiting Syria since Beirut’s new authorities took workplace in February, following the ouster of former Syrian chief Bashar al-Assad by opposition forces.
A Lebanese official, chatting with the AFP information company anonymously as they weren’t authorised to transient the media, described the go to as “key to correcting the course of ties between the 2 nations on the premise of mutual respect”.
‘Resetting bilateral relations’
Senior Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr, reporting from Damascus on a pivotal second for Lebanon-Syria relations, mentioned, “Little question this can be a important go to. Lebanese officers say that this is a chance to right the trajectory of the connection between the 2 nations.”
The 2 nations have lengthy confronted strained ties marked by “battle, friction and pressure”, Khodr famous.
“There was a time when Bashar al-Assad was in energy. Syria was accused of interfering in Lebanon’s inside affairs in dictating home coverage in Lebanon,” she mentioned, recalling Syria’s years of army presence within the neighbouring nation and Hezbollah’s help for al-Assad throughout Syria’s civil conflict.
Current political shifts in each nations have opened new potentialities. “New authorities are actually in Damascus and there may be additionally a brand new authorities in Lebanon … al-Assad is out of energy, and his ally, Hezbollah in Lebanon, is now not the dominant participant,” Khodr mentioned, including that every one this has led to a mutual want to “reset bilateral relations”.
After the talks concluded and the Lebanese delegation left Damascus, Salam posted on X: “My go to to Damascus immediately goals to open a brand new web page within the historical past of relations between the 2 nations, based mostly on mutual respect, restoring belief, good neighbourliness, preserving the sovereignty of our two nations, and non-interference in one another’s inside affairs.
Lebanon’s prime minister additionally famous that “Discussions with President Ahmed al-Sharaa centered amongst different points on border and crossing management, stopping smuggling, and in the end demarcating the land and sea borders.”
Tense relations and political assassinations
Relations between Lebanon and Syria have remained tense since al-Assad’s fall. Moreover, each nations have been repeatedly bombarded by Israel. In Lebanon’s case, that has come despite the November ceasefire that ended a year-long conflict.
Monday’s talks centered on border safety, together with efforts to fight smuggling and demarcate the 330km (205-mile) border.
Final month, Lebanon and Syria’s defence ministers signed a safety settlement in Saudi Arabia following lethal border clashes that left 10 useless.
Beirut was additionally anticipated to push for a joint investigation into previous political killings in Lebanon linked to Syria’s former management.
Accompanied by senior ministers, Salam mentioned the repatriation of Syrian refugees, with Lebanon estimating it hosts 1.5 million Syrians, although the United Nations has registered solely 750,000.
Earlier than departing from Syria, Salam mentioned he would additionally elevate the difficulty of Lebanese detainees who vanished in Syrian prisons below al-Assad’s rule.
This go to follows a December assembly between al-Sharaa and former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the primary such encounter since Syria’s civil conflict started in 2011. Al-Sharaa had pledged in December that Damascus would respect Lebanon’s sovereignty.
