On Saturday, in his first official visit to Syria to meet the new government, the Lebanese prime minister asked the two countries for a way to allow the masses of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to return home.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Saturday afternoon in the Syrian capital Damascus with Ahmad al-Shara, the leader of the new Syrian government, according to the Lebanese prime minister’s office. Al-Shara leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamic group that spearheaded the flash offensive that toppled the decades-long rule of Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian president, last month.
At a news conference in Damascus, Mikati said both countries should quickly resolve the issue of the more than one million refugees Lebanon has welcomed following the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. While some have since returned, many others they still remain in Lebanon.
“Today it has become urgent – in the interests of both countries – to address this problem as quickly as possible and return the displaced to a Syria that is fortunately recovering,” Mikati said, adding that he believed al-Shara supported the effort .
Al-Shara said the two leaders discussed “outstanding issues”, including border security, but made no comment on the return of the refugees. He said committees would be set up to examine how to resolve various problems, but urged Syrians to lower their expectations for a quick overhaul of the impoverished country.
“We have a lot of problems in Syria,” al-Shara said. “We won’t be able to solve them all at once. We need to divide them and look for solutions for each.”
Mikati’s visit to Damascus came after the election of Joseph Aoun as Lebanon’s president this week, after two years in which the office was vacant. Mr Aoun will soon start consultations on appointing a new prime minister next week.
In Syria, al-Shara faces the challenge of imposing order in a country that has been ravaged by 14 years of civil war that has divided it into multiple warring regions and spurred a proliferation of armed groups. He sought to quickly restore a sense of normality at home, urging public workers to return to work and students to return to school.
Lebanon, like other countries on Syria’s borders, fears that internal chaos could spread to its territory. Last week, at least five Lebanese soldiers were injured in clashes along the Syrian border after Syrian militants fired on Lebanese soldiers. The Lebanese army said its troops were trying to close an illegal border crossing in the area.
Mr Mikati spoke to Mr al-Shara on the phone after the incidents. During the phone call, al-Shara said that “Syrian authorities are doing everything necessary to restore calm at the border and prevent the issue from happening again,” Mikati’s office said at the time.
Further underscoring these challenges, Syrian state media announced on Saturday that their security forces had arrested people accused of belonging to the Islamic State who had planned to commit a major attack in Damascus.
The two men had planned to use explosives inside the Sayeda Zeinab mausoleum, a holy site particularly revered by Shiite Muslims on the outskirts of Damascus, according to government-controlled SANA.
Although a U.S.-led international coalition has largely pushed ISIS back to its former bastions in Iraq and Syria, the group is still active in some areas and continues to inspire attacks online.
Here’s what’s happening in the region:
-
Ceasefire talks in Gaza: Israeli security chiefs will soon travel to Qatar for high-level talks on a truce that would allow the release of hostages held in Gaza, the Israeli government said Saturday evening. The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said it had ordered David Barnea, head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, to lead a delegation to Doha, the capital of Qatar, for negotiations. Qatar and Egypt mediated between Israel and Hamas with the help of the United States. Negotiations have apparently been stalled for months, but Israeli and US officials have expressed cautious optimism that a deal will be reached in the coming weeks.
-
Rockets from Gaza: More than 15 months into the war between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian militants continue to fire munitions from the Gaza Strip, although both Israeli and U.S. officials say the group’s military capacity has been significantly reduced. Air raid sirens sounded Saturday in Kerem Shalom, an Israeli border community, after a rocket was fired from southern Gaza; the Israeli military said it was successfully intercepted.