Lebanon and Syria reach key agreement on border security

Lebanon and Syria’s defense ministers reached an agreement regarding “security and military threats” along their shared border during a meeting in Saudi Arabia’s capital on Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The agreement between Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa and his Syrian counterpart, Mourhaf Abou Qasra, comes after the northern border area was host to several waves of violent clashes in recent months between new Syrian forces and Lebanese clans.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz attended the meeting, which focused on ways in which the two neighboring countries can reinforce security and stability at the border. A follow-up meeting will be held again in Saudi Arabia, at an undisclosed date.

Border demarcation and Lebanese-Syrian coordination

In mid-March, border clashes resulted in ten deaths in northeastern Lebanon, at the border with Syria. The two countries share a 330-kilometer border, without official demarcation at several points, making it a zone prone to smuggling and with a territorial ambiguity that particularly affects about a dozen villages located in Syrian territory but with Lebanese or Syrian-Lebanese residents.

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The agreement signed Thursday emphasizes the “strategic importance of border demarcation” and the “activation of coordination mechanisms to address security and military threats, particularly those originating along the border,” according to SPA. 

Visit to Damascus postponed

Menassa’s scheduled visit to Damascus for Wednesday was postponed indefinitely at Syria’s request, according to a Lebanese official and a Syrian government source, who added that the postponement was due to “preparations for forming a new government” in Syria. 

The new Syrian leaders had announced that the country would form a government by March 1 to succeed the current interim cabinet, but its formation has not yet been announced. Menassa was to be the first Lebanese official to visit Damascus since a new Lebanese government was formed in February.In mid-March, Damascus accused Hezbollah, an ally of deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, of kidnapping and killing three Syrian soldiers, which Hezbollah denied having done. On the Lebanese side, local sources reported an “infiltration” of these armed elements into Lebanese territory.. Seven Lebanese citizens were subsequently killed in attacks from Syrian forces, according to authorities. The two countries later announced they had reached a cease-fire.