Syria’s al-Shara met with the Lebanese prime minister and tried to improve the long-standing relationship

In Tala Ramadan

(Reuters) – Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara met with Lebanese acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus on Saturday in an effort to improve long-standing ties.

The Lebanese prime minister’s first visit to neighboring Syria in 15 years was the first by a head of state since Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a rebel attack on December 8.

Ties between Damascus and Beirut have been severed several times since they became independent states in the 1940s.

Mikati said after the meeting that the countries have agreed to work hard to protect their land borders and work together on their common land and sea borders.

Demarcation of the sea and coastal border between Lebanon and Syria and prevention of illegal smuggling are among the top priorities, he said.

It has also become “urgent” to resolve the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and allow them to return to their country, according to a statement from the office.

About 800,000 Syrians are registered as refugees in Lebanon, but officials estimate the number to be much higher and say they place a heavy burden on Lebanon’s public services.

Al-Shara cited the border as his main concern, and the two leaders discussed Syrian deposits in Lebanese banks, which have been inaccessible due to Lebanon’s five-year financial crisis.

“We hope that the Lebanese people will abandon the previous relationship with Syria in Lebanon and the negative relationships that followed,” Shara added, adding that now “there is an opportunity to build a positive relationship.”

For most of the Assad family’s five decades in power, Syria exerted considerable influence over Lebanon, maintaining its military presence for 29 years until 2005, amid widespread opposition from many Lebanese.

During the Syrian civil war, Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite Islamist group Hezbollah played a major role in supporting deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and fighting the Sunni Islamist rebels who ousted him.

In the year In 2014, as war broke out in Syria, Syrian Islamist rebels kidnapped and killed some Lebanese soldiers near the border between the two countries.

During his visit, Mikati was joined by the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Bou Habib, the head of border management of the General Security Agency of Lebanon and the head of Lebanese military intelligence.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said there was a historic opportunity for a “serious and fair dialogue” with Syria following his election last Thursday.

Congratulations to Shara Awon for assuming the presidency.