Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the Serail on March 26, 2023. (Credit: Mikati's press office)
BEIRUT — During a phone call on Friday evening, Ahmad al-Sharaa, the commander of Syria’s new administration, invited Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to visit Syria to discuss mutual concerns and bolster bilateral relations.
The invitation came a day after clashes erupted between the Lebanese army and Syrian militants along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
According to the state-run National News Agency, Mikati and al-Sharaa discussed the relations between the two countries, focusing on urgent issues.
Since Friday morning, the Lebanese-Syrian border has been closed to Lebanese nationals, with Syrian authorities now requiring Lebanese citizens to hold a Syrian residence permit to enter the country, according to local media. However, a spokesperson for Syria’s new government denied the reports, telling L'Orient Today on Friday that rumors regarding new entry conditions for Lebanese nationals were "completely false."
Mikati and Sharaa also addressed Friday’s clashes between the Lebanese army and Syrian militants in the Bekaa Valley. Four Lebanese Army soldiers were injured in these clashes which suddenly broke out in the village of Maaraboun (Baalbek district), with the Syrian militants' identity still unknown.
Sharaa emphasized that “the concerned Syrian agencies did everything necessary to restore calm on the border and prevent a recurrence of what happened.”
Sharaa is the commander of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, a group that led the ousting of the former Syrian regime on Dec. 8 following a swift offensive that started 11 days earlier.