Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Sunday after meeting with Syria’s leader: “I was pleased to visit Damascus, and we discussed bilateral relations with the leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and we wished Syria stability and peace.”
Mikati pointed out in a joint press conference with Sharaa that “Syria represents Lebanon’s natural gateway to the Arab world, and as long as it is well, Lebanon is well.” He added: “It has become urgent in the interest of both countries to address the Syrian displacement crisis as a whole and return the displaced to Syria, which has begun to recover.”
Mikati said: “I sensed Syria’s readiness to follow up on the displacement file, and we also discussed the border file, and the emphasis was on protecting the security of the two countries.”
He continued: “We look forward to friendly and equal relations between Lebanon and Syria based on cooperation.”
Mikati stressed that “the priority is to demarcate the land and sea borders between Lebanon and Syria, and there will be a specialized committee for this matter, and we will work to fully control the land borders to stop any smuggling operation, and we will cooperate in this matter.”
He pointed out that “the Syrian side is doing its full part to establish a special body for criminal matters and searching for all missing persons, and we will provide the new Syrian administration with their names.”
Sharaa
For his part, Sharaa said, “We discussed bilateral relations between Lebanon and Syria.”
Sharaa stressed that “Syria will stand at an equal distance from everyone in Lebanon,” adding, “We seek positive relations.”
He explained that “the priority in Syria is the internal situation, the security situation, and restricting weapons to the state.”
Al-Sharaa continued: “We build relations with Lebanon on the basis of brotherhood and seek to increase social ties, and any border barriers between us must be removed in the future.” He said: “We support the Lebanese consensus options, especially with regard to electing General Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic,” adding: “We have common and strategic interests with Lebanon.”
Source: Lebanon Files , Translated from Arabic
