Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Damascus on Saturday on a visit tackling issues including security, transport and energy.
Beirut and Damascus have been rebuilding their ties after the December 2024 overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whose family dynasty exercised control over Lebanese affairs for decades and is accused of assassinating numerous officials in Lebanon who expressed opposition to its rule.
A statement from the Syrian presidency said the officials discussed “developing economic and trade cooperation… and bolstering security coordination in order to support stability and confront challenges”, as well as regional and international developments, AFP reported.
Syrian state news agency SANA said the visit aimed to “develop joint cooperation… particularly the economy, transportation and energy” sectors.
Salam was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri as well as Lebanese ministers for energy, economy and transport.
Salam hailed “significant progress” on joint issues at the end of the visit, telling reporters that “we discussed continuing efforts to address the issue of detained Syrians (in Lebanon) and to uncover the fate of the missing and forcibly detained in both countries”.
In March, Lebanon transferred more than 130 Syrian convicts to their home country to serve the remainder of their sentences there, as part of an agreement signed a month earlier.
Lebanon has also been seeking information on political assassinations in the country under the Assad dynasty.
The discussions also addressed “the need for stricter Syria-Lebanon border controls and preventing all types of smuggling”, Salam added.
Lebanon and Syria share a porous, 330-kilometre (205-mile) border notorious for the smuggling of people and goods.
Last month, the main border crossing was closed for several days due to an Israeli threat to target it, with Israel accusing Hezbollah of using the crossing for military purposes and smuggling, though it ultimately did not carry out the strike.
Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since the Iran-backed group drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel on March 2, though a ceasefire was announced last month.
Hezbollah, which fought alongside Syrian government forces during the country’s civil war, lost a major ally and cross-border supply route with Assad’s ouster.
Syria’s new authorities are hostile to the Lebanese group and its sponsor, and have announced the arrest of alleged Hezbollah-affiliated cells in recent months, while the group has denied having any presence in Syria.
Salam said that “we will not allow Lebanon to be used as a platform to harm any of its Arab brothers, including Syria”.
