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The fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime in Syria marked “a great day for history”, a representative of Lebanon’s largest political party said on Sunday after rebel forces entered Damascus and forced the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to flee.
"Finally justice has been made, regardless of the details,” said Marc Saad, an official in the foreign relations department for the Lebanese Forces. “The fall of the Assad regime is justice made for many Lebanese people and many Syrians as well – mostly for the Lebanese who fell defending their country.”
Lebanese Forces is the largest party in Lebanon’s deeply divided parliament and has been a staunch critic of the Assad regime. Syria occupied Lebanon in the wake of the Lebanese civil war until it was pushed out by a wave of protests in 2005. Many party members are thought to be rotting in its jails.
"What's unfortunate is that there are still Lebanese people who are detained in the jails off the Assad regime," Mr Saad said. "We hope we can reveal their wheaabouts in the coming hours. It's justice being made after a very long period of time. Finally, we are reaching a date where history has rectified itself."
Elsewhere, the Lebanese government was largely mute on the fate of its neighbour. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he discussed the situation at the Syrian border in a call with army commander Joseph Aoun and security forces chiefs.
Mr Mikati insisted "in these calls on the priority of tightening control over the border and distancing Lebanon from the repercussions of the developments in Syria", his office said in a statement.
Authorities say Lebanon currently hosts about two million Syrians, while more than 800,000 are registered with the UN, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Many fled Syria after its civil war began following the repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
The Lebanese army said on Sunday it was reinforcing its presence on the border with neighbouring Syria, after the Assad government fell and rebels took the capital Damascus.
"In light of rapid developments and delicate circumstances that the region is going through... units tasked with monitoring and controlling the northern and eastern borders have been reinforced, in conjunction with tightening surveillance measures," the army said in a statement.
The Assad regime has long been a source of controversy within Lebanon. Hezbollah was a key component in popping up the Syrian regime during the long civil war in the country. How the situation in Syria affects Lebanon remains to be seen. The international committee tasked with overseeing the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took a helicopter tour of south Lebanon on Friday.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire deal, Israel has 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, while thousands of Lebanese army soldiers move into the area. Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure must move north of the Litani River.
Lebanese officials have accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire dozens of times since it came into effect last week.
