President Ahmed Al-Sharaa received on Saturday, at the People's Palace in Damascus, the Prime Minister of the Lebanese Republic, Nawaf Salam, in the presence of two ministerial delegations from the two countries.
During the meeting, they discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, develop economic and trade cooperation to serve common interests, enhance security coordination to support stability and face challenges, in addition to exchanging views on regional and international developments and issues of common interest.
Salam: Lebanon will not be a platform to harm our surroundings
During his visit to Damascus, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed the need to continue good neighborliness with Syria and the Arab region of Lebanon.
"We will not allow Lebanon to be used as a platform to harm our Arab surroundings, especially Syria," Salam told reporters in Damascus on Saturday.
"We agreed with the Syrian side on the need for continued neighbourhood, and the relationship with Syria is based on respect," he added.
He explained that during his visit to Damascus, he discussed bilateral relations at various levels, and the two sides stressed the need to emphasize the control of the common borders.
"We have made great progress in addressing the issues between Lebanon and Syria and the results will be visible soon," Salam said.
He added, "We discussed following up on the implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries on the transfer of convicted prisoners to Syria and revealing the fate of the missing in both countries."
Syrian-Lebanese relations are witnessing a new phase of cooperation and re-establishment, characterized by high-level mutual official visits, with the aim of strengthening the path of brotherly relations based on mutual respect for the sovereignty of the two countries, and activating joint cooperation on many vital files and common issues of interest to the two countries.
French initiative to demarcate the Syrian-Lebanese border
The visit of the Lebanese Prime Minister tomorrow comes after the visit of the French Chief of Staff, General Vincent Giroud, to Damascus and Beirut, during which he carried an initiative from his country to demarcate the Syrian-Lebanese border, where the French general discussed, last Tuesday, with Aoun, the details of the French initiative aimed at contributing to the demarcation of the land border between Lebanon and Syria, within the framework of a renewed diplomatic effort led by Paris.
The initiative is based on maps and historical documents from the archives of the French Mandate period (1920-1943), which Paris had previously handed over to the two parties, with the aim of facilitating the identification of overlapping border points and establishing clear technical foundations for the demarcation process.
According to official sources, through this step, France aims to end decades of border problems, strengthen Lebanese sovereignty, help control illegal crossings and curb smuggling, which will reflect stability on the border and the region in general.
Aoun: The file of the Shebaa Farms has been postponed to a later stage
The Lebanese President stressed the readiness of the Lebanese technical committees to start the land and sea demarcation process as soon as the decision is available to the Syrian side, noting that the Shab'a Farms file may be postponed to a later stage due to its regional complexities.
A statement issued by the Lebanese presidency said that the meeting at Baabda Palace discussed security and military coordination, the role of the Lebanese army in protecting the borders, in addition to the ongoing preparations for upcoming international conferences aimed at supporting Lebanese military institutions.
The French initiative includes a "technical package" that includes maps of the Mandate (1920-1943) and minutes of joint committees from 1933, which aim to demarcate the land border between Lebanon and Syria and determine land ownership, in addition to including a plan to control the borders through the activation of the Joint Technical Committee, and the development of official ports such as the Qamar Bridge to combat smuggling.