Salam to visit Damascus next week with Lebanese delegation

BEIRUT — Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is expected to travel to Syria early next week at the head of a Lebanese delegation, a source close to the Grand Serail told L'Orient-Le Jour. The delegation will include Foreign Minister Joe Rajji, Defense Minister Michel Menassa, and Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar.

Talks with Syrian officials are expected to focus on improving bilateral relations, reviewing previously signed agreements, and demarcating the countries’ shared 330-kilometer border, which remains officially undefined in several areas, leaving it porous and vulnerable to smuggling.

The visit follows former Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s trip to Damascus on Jan. 11 — the first official Lebanese visit since a coalition led by Islamists took power in Syria.

Ten days ago, Lebanese and Syrian defense ministers met in Saudi Arabia and signed an accord emphasizing the need to address military and security threats along their shared border. A prior visit by the Lebanese defense minister to Damascus had been indefinitely postponed at Syria’s request, due to “preparations for the formation of a new government,” according to a Syrian government source. That new government has since been announced.

In mid-March, clashes along the Lebanon-Syria border in the Bekaa Valley left 10 people dead. Damascus accused Hezbollah — an ally of Syria’s ousted president, Bashar al-Assad — of kidnapping and killing three Syrian soldiers, an allegation the Iran-backed group denied. Lebanese authorities later reported that seven Lebanese were killed by Syrian bombardments. A Lebanese security source told AFP that Syrian forces shelled the border area in retaliation for the deaths of the soldiers, allegedly at the hands of Lebanese smugglers. The two sides later declared a cease-fire.

In related developments, the Lebanese army, in coordination with Internal Security Forces intelligence units, conducted a raid Tuesday on camps for displaced Syrians in Anfeh and Chekka, northern Lebanon. The operation, part of a broader security sweep, targeted individuals suspected of involvement in criminal activity. Several Syrians who had entered Lebanon illegally were arrested, and materials were seized and handed over to judicial authorities.

Separately, the army established a security perimeter in Dahr al-Ain, in the Koura district, after explosives and ammunition were found discarded in a field. A military expert is expected to examine the ordnance, according to local correspondents.