Lebanon and Syria are preparing the ground for rebuilding relations, with both countries now under new administrations that diverge from the policies of their predecessors, Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri said.
In an interview with The National in Beirut, he sought to quell speculation of a diplomatic stand-off with Damascus over thousands of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons.
“There's no drama. We're on the phone at many levels. We're friends,” Mr Mitri told The National.
Mr Mitri, who oversees Syria-Lebanon relations on behalf of the Lebanese government, said joint committees from both countries have been established to negotiate key issues on the basis of “friendliness and mutual respect”.
Beyond the detainee issue, the bilateral committees are seeking to resolve the fate of missing Lebanese in Syria and improve security co-ordination along the shared, notoriously porous 330km border.
Relations under the Assad dynasty, toppled last December, had historically been strained due to Syria’s history of military occupation in Lebanon, the spillover of the Syrian civil war and Hezbollah’s involvement in it.
But since the rise of Syria’s transitional government, and the election of a president and prime minister in Lebanon who stand in contrast to previous administrations, the neighbours have signalled a desire to mend ties.
“We're both determined to solve the problems,” Mr Mitri told The National. “And we're delighted to have a relationship with our Syrian neighbour for the first time in a long time. This is something we've not had for 50 years.”
Lebanon’s Syrian prison population tops the outstanding diplomatic issues between the two nations.
In his hands, Mr Mitri held the draft of a judicial treaty intended for the eyes of a Syrian delegation that visited Lebanon on Wednesday.
“Once we agree on this text, it has to be ratified by Parliament but that shouldn’t be difficult,” he said. “We could get it ratified in a matter of weeks.”
On track
Damascus has requested the blanket repatriation of nearly 3,000 Syrians held in Lebanese jails. But Lebanese officials have dismissed the possibility, given the conviction of many for violent crimes.
That includes Islamist fighters who participated in cross-border attacks on Lebanese army soldiers – some of whom are linked to Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), the senior members of which now lead Syria’s government. HTS was previously affiliated with Al Qaeda but later distanced itself from the group’s zealotry to portray a more moderate image.
“Our main target prison population [eligible for release] is people who were arrested upon the request of the former Syrian authorities because they had allegedly committed crimes in Syria, but these crimes were of a political nature — they were part of the opposition,” Mr Mitri said.
But to release the around 2,600 Syrian detainees in Lebanon – 70 per cent of whom have yet to be tried or sentenced – the Lebanese judiciary must expedite trials for those detained without conviction in the country's overcrowded prisons.
The process is already under way but “is extremely slow”, Mr Mitri said. "That's not a justification but an explanation. We all admit that this is an abnormal and unacceptable situation.”
Regarding the contentious Lebanese issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament, Mr Mitri said “things are on track” and that the US ”was extremely supportive of us, to the government, and to the Lebanese army. I would not worry too much about declarations that might suggest otherwise.”
The government is overseeing a Lebanese army plan that would lead to Hezbollah’s eventual disarmament, Mr Mitri added, with the army presenting the cabinet with a monthly progress report.
Mr Mitri said full implementation of the army plan to extend the authority of the state nationwide will require empowering the Lebanese Armed Forces with more personnel and equipment.
But it will be difficult to implement without the Israelis' adherence to the ceasefire agreement of November 2024, “which they have not done so far”.
