DAMASCUS: Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed Al Sharaa met Lebanon’s care­taker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus on Saturday in a bid to improve long-fraught ties, with the pair focusing on strengthening their shared border.

The trip was the first by a head of government to Syria since Bashar Al Assad was toppled by a sweeping offensive on Dec 8, and the first visit by a Lebanese premier to neighbouring Syria in 15 years.

Ties between Damascus and Beirut have often been fraught since they became independent states in the 1940s.

The countries agreed to work together to secure their land borders and delineate their shared land and sea borders as a matter of priority, Mikati said following the meeting.

“At the top of the list of priorities is the demarcation of the land and sea borders between Lebanon and Syria” and securing the border to prevent illegal smuggling, he said It has also become “urgent” to address the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and have them return home, according to a statement by his office.

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

Al Sharaa also named the border as his top priority, and said the two leaders had discussed Syrian deposits in Lebanese banks, which have been inaccessible due to a five-year financial crisis in Lebanon.

“We hope that the Lebanese people will abandon the mentality of the previous Syrian relationship in Lebanon and the negative relations that followed,” Sharaa added, saying there was now an “opportunity to build a positive relationship”.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025