Lebanon’s Mikati and Syria’s al-Sharaa discuss bilateral issues, including smuggling between the two countries and border challenges.Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said Beirut and Damascus will work together to secure their land borders, as well as to delineate both land and sea borders.
In the first trip by a Lebanese prime minister to neighbouring Syria in 15 years, Mikati addressed a joint news conference with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in the capital Damascus on Saturday.
Al-Sharaa said they had discussed issues including smuggling between the two countries, border challenges, and Syrian deposits in Lebanese banks.
He said he expected “long-term strategic relations” with neighbouring Lebanon after the crisis-hit country elected a much-needed president.
“We and Lebanon have great shared interests,” al-Sharaa added.
Both sides agreed to establish committees to address these matters and provide support.
Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed, reporting from Damascus, said the two leaders agreed to work to prevent smuggling between the two countries.
“Smugglers used to send weapons and drugs from Syria into Lebanon,” he said. Advertisement
“This was quite important for the Lebanese leader and he mentioned that,” our correspondent added.
Lebanon’s eastern border is porous and known for smuggling.
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah supported al-Assad with fighters during Syria’s civil war.
However, the Iran-aligned movement has been weakened after a war with Israel killed its longtime leader and damaged the group’s firepower, a factor helping the Syrian rebels to seize Damascus last month.
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