Syria delays Lebanese Defence Minister's visit to Damascus

Syrian troops gather in a village close to the Lebanese border, where recent fighting took place. AP

Syria has postponed a visit by Lebanon's Defence Minister Michel Menassa to Damascus scheduled for Wednesday, when officials were due to discuss the contested and volatile border between the countries. The delay was not believed to be related to recent Syrian-Lebanese tension.

“Lebanon has been asked by Syrian authorities to postpone the visit of its delegation, as new security appointments in Syria are expected to be announced soon,” a Lebanese security source told The National.

Mr Menassa was set to be the most senior Lebanese official to visit Syria since the cabinet was approved last month. He was scheduled to meet his Syrian counterpart Murhaf Abu Qasra, appointed Defence Minister after former president Bashar Al Assad was ousted in December by a coalition of rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), which took over the government.

Tensions along the undemarcated Syria-Lebanon border escalated this month, with two days of clashes between the respective national forces and Lebanese armed groups, in which eight Syrian soldiers and a 15-year-old Lebanese male were killed. The boy died in Syrian bombing in the frontier village of Qasr. The neighbouring countries then agreed a ceasefire which brought an end to the violence.

The new Syrian authorities accused Hezbollah, which has traditionally had a strong presence in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, of kidnapping and killing three soldiers. Those claims were rejected by the powerful Lebanese political party and armed group that was key in propping up Mr Al Assad's regime during the Syrian war.

But despite the ceasefire, the "underlying issues remain unresolved, leaving the door open for renewed conflict at the Lebanon-Syria border", a western diplomatic source told The National at the time.

The two countries have had a rocky relationship over the years and the recent escalation marred efforts by the two governments to improve relations since the fall of Al Assad. Troops under HTS have clashed with Hezbollah several times at the border, with the authorities in Damascus saying some smuggling rings Hezbollah used to supply weapons from Iran still operate in the area. It vowed to crack down on Hezbollah-linked smugglers in a bid to secure the border.