Nawaf Salam meets Ahmed al-Sharaa to discuss border security, refugees, and past political killings under ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has held talks in Damascus with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in his first official visit to Syria, in an effort to recalibrate relations between the two nations, which have been strained for decades.
The diplomatic shuttle on Monday marks the highest-level Lebanese delegation visiting Syria since Beirut’s new government took office in February, following the ouster of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad by opposition forces.
A Lebanese official, speaking to the AFP news agency anonymously as they were not authorised to brief the media, described the visit as “key to correcting the course of ties between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect”.
‘Resetting bilateral relations’
Senior Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr, reporting from Damascus on a pivotal moment for Lebanon-Syria relations, said, “No doubt this is a significant visit. Lebanese officials say that this is an opportunity to correct the trajectory of the relationship between the two countries.”
The two nations have long faced strained ties marked by “conflict, friction and tension”, Khodr noted.
“There was a time when Bashar al-Assad was in power. Syria was accused of interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs in dictating domestic policy in Lebanon,” she said, recalling Syria’s years of military presence in the neighbouring country and Hezbollah’s support for al-Assad during Syria’s civil war.
Recent political shifts in both countries have opened new possibilities. “New authorities are now in Damascus and there is also a new government in Lebanon … al-Assad is out of power, and his ally, Hezbollah in Lebanon, is no longer the dominant player,” Khodr said, adding that all this has led to a mutual desire to “reset bilateral relations”.
After the talks concluded and the Lebanese delegation left Damascus, Salam posted on X: “My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighbourliness, preserving the sovereignty of our two countries, and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.
Lebanon’s prime minister also noted that “Discussions with President Ahmed al-Sharaa focused among other issues on border and crossing control, preventing smuggling, and ultimately demarcating the land and sea borders.”
Tense relations and political assassinations
Relations between Lebanon and Syria have remained tense since al-Assad’s fall. Additionally, both countries have been regularly bombarded by Israel. In Lebanon’s case, that has come in spite of the November ceasefire that ended a year-long war.
Monday’s talks focused on border security, including efforts to combat smuggling and demarcate the 330km (205-mile) border.
Last month, Lebanon and Syria’s defence ministers signed a security agreement in Saudi Arabia following deadly border clashes that left 10 dead.
Beirut was also expected to push for a joint investigation into past political killings in Lebanon linked to Syria’s former leadership.
Accompanied by senior ministers, Salam discussed the repatriation of Syrian refugees, with Lebanon estimating it hosts 1.5 million Syrians, though the United Nations has registered only 750,000.
Before departing from Syria, Salam said he would also raise the issue of Lebanese detainees who vanished in Syrian prisons under al-Assad’s rule.
This visit follows a December meeting between al-Sharaa and former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the first such encounter since Syria’s civil war began in 2011. Al-Sharaa had pledged in December that Damascus would respect Lebanon’s sovereignty.
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