Latest news with #Lebanon-Syria
Leaders
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Leaders
Saudi Arabia Steps in to Ease India-Pakistan Tensions: Report
Saudi Arabia is actively working to ease India-Pakistan tensions after a fatal attack in Kashmir killed 26 tourists, a senior Saudi official told AFP. Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan exchanged cross-border fire after Tuesday's attack in Pahalgam. New Delhi accused Islamabad of involvement, but Pakistan denied responsibility. The UN urged both nations to exercise 'maximum restraint.' Kingdom Urges Dialogue to Prevent Escalation 'The Kingdom urges dialogue to prevent escalation between India and Pakistan,' the Saudi official stated. 'Both are allies, and stability remains our priority.' Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan held separate calls with Indian and Pakistani diplomats Friday. He discussed de-escalation strategies and regional developments, his office confirmed. Kashmir split between India and Pakistan in 1947, with both nations claiming full sovereignty, fueling decades of conflict. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short a Saudi visit after the attack. Riyadh recently hosted U.S.-Russia talks to mend ties post-Ukraine war. Additionally, it facilitated discussions on Sudan's conflict and Lebanon-Syria border disputes, solidifying its global peacemaking influence. As a trusted regional power, Saudi Arabia's intervention highlights its strategic diplomacy to stabilize ally relations and curb broader geopolitical risks. Short link : Post Views: 1 Related Stories
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Analysis: Syria, Lebanon embark on long healing process to repair relations
BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 18 (UPI) -- Leadership changes in Syria and Lebanon, driven by the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the weakening of Hezbollah's influence, have created a rare opportunity for the two neighboring countries to repair their relations and move beyond decades of political domination and military interference. The stunning collapse last December of the Syrian Baath regime at the hands of Islamist rebels, led by Ahmad Sharaa -- now Syria's new ruler -- has created a new reality in the country and across the region. Just a month later, Lebanon began to show signs of its own transformation with the election of Joseph Aoun as president and the appointment of Nawaf Salam to lead the new government. The once-powerful Hezbollah, long accustomed to dictating national policy and hand-picking key officials, was forced to compromise and endorse these new leadership choices. Leaders in both countries were quick to offer assurances to one another, expressing a willingness to move beyond their troubled, tense and often hostile past, and to open a new chapter in relations based on mutual respect. The road to recovery will be far from easy, burdened by long-standing and complex disputes, deeply rooted historical grievances and a rapidly shifting Middle East landscape ravaged by years of destructive conflicts. However, the visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to Damascus earlier this week, where he met with Syria's ruler, Ahmad Sharaa, laid the groundwork for dialogue aimed at resolving key points of contention between the two countries. The visit marks "a watershed moment" in Lebanon-Syria relations, according to Imad Salamey, a senior Middle East policy adviser and associate professor of political science and international affairs at the Lebanese American University in Beirut. Salamey explained that for the first time, both states are engaging on equal sovereign footing, signaling a departure from decades of Syrian tutelage over Lebanon. "This diplomatic shift recognizes Lebanon's independence and Syria's need to recalibrate its regional posture post-Assad's ouster," he told UPI. The Sharaa-Salam talks, Salamey added, suggest that both parties are now willing to talk as peers, with mutual interests in securing sovereignty and territorial integrity. The emerging approach emphasizes non-interference in each other's affairs, with Syria committing to refrain from aggression against Lebanon and Lebanon ensuring it will not serve as a base for launching attacks against Syria. "This process would pave the way for consolidating stability between the two countries," a well-informed Lebanese source told UPI. Lebanon has suffered from decades-long Syrian military presence, political domination and manipulation that greatly impacted its governance, political life, economy and stability. The Syrian Army first entered Lebanon in 1976 to stop the then-raging civil war and remained until it was forced to pull out after the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a powerful explosion that targeted his convoy in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. Syria, which imposed itself as the main power broker after having been granted guardianship over Lebanon when the civil war ended in 1990, was accused of being behind Hariri's assassination and numerous other such killings during the civil war and in peace. But its influence on Lebanon began to wane rapidly starting in 2011, when anti-Assad peaceful protests broke out and soon turned into a bloody civil war. Syrians, on their part, hold grudges against Hezbollah -- and its patron, Iran -- for siding with the Assad regime and joining the bloody battles against the opposition fighters in 2012. The Hezbollah-Iran involvement in Syria ended with Assad's fall. Last month, three soldiers in Syria's new army and seven Lebanese were killed when clashes erupted near the border town of Al-Qasr in northeastern Lebanon --- one of several key smuggling and supply routes long used by Hezbollah. The fighting ended after two days, with the Lebanese Army deploying in the area. "No attacks or smuggling will be allowed from the Lebanese side," the source said. "The army now has control of the border to prevent any drug and weapons smuggling, as well as any cross-border interaction or interference." Smuggling has been a main problem since the establishment of the border between Syria and Lebanon, which extends for approximately 230 miles from the east to the north, with no clear demarcation in many areas. Land and sea border demarcation, security coordination, preventing smuggling, closing illegal crossings, and adopting security and military measures to prevent the recurrence of the cross-border clashes were at the top of the Salam-Sharaa discussions, according to the Lebanese source. He said the discussions also covered gas and oil exploration, boosting trade and potential joint projects that would bring mutual benefits in the fields of economy, agriculture and investment. Both countries, he added, agreed to form a joint committee that included the ministers of justice and defense to address lingering issues, such as uncovering the fate of Lebanese detainees and missing persons in Syria, as well as Syrians held in Lebanese prisons. "The committee will also work to shed light on the dozens of political assassinations that took place in Lebanon during the Assad regime's rule," the source said. While historical grievances are "deeply embedded," Lebanon and Syria have a shared interest in securing and demarcating the borders, especially in compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1680, Salamey said. "This provides an achievable starting point," he said. Controlling illegal crossings, which has cost Lebanon some $5 billion annually due to smuggling, per the World Bank's estimates, and halting currency outflows from Syria "are pragmatic, mutually beneficial goals." Salamey said border control could encourage greater economic cooperation and mutual stabilization, but emphasized the need for international guarantees, technical support and "political insulation from spoilers -- particularly Hezbollah and other non-state actors who benefit from open borders." Encouraged by the recent political shifts, Saudi Arabia stepped in to bring Syria and Lebanon closer, playing a key mediating role in helping the two countries address their long-standing disputes. The Lebanese source revealed that land and maritime border demarcation talks will proceed with the support of Saudi Arabia, which believes that there is "a serious opportunity" for both countries to emerge from their successive crises and embark on a new process aimed at consolidating stability. Besides the disputed territories, securing the return of 1.5 million Syrian refugees from Lebanon represents a major challenge. While crisis-ridden Lebanon can no longer host them, war-ravaged Syria is not yet ready to take them back because of its limited resources. Salamey also noted that their divergent political systems -- Lebanon's consociational democracy versus Syria's Islamist autocratic trajectory -- also pose "enduring risks." He said that without broader regional reconciliation and internal reforms, progress may be limited to "transactional arrangements" rather than leading to "transformational peace." "The road to healing is long and fraught, but the current moment offers a window for engagement that didn't exist in recent decades," he said.
The Hill
14-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Lebanese president says Hezbollah disarmament will come through dialogue not ‘force'
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's president said Monday that the disarmament of the militant group Hezbollah will come through negotiations as part of a national defense strategy and not through 'force.' The Lebanese government has made a decision that 'weapons will only be in the hands of the state,' but there are 'discussions around how to implement this decision,' President Joseph Aoun said in an interview with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera. Those discussions are in the form of a 'bilateral dialogue' between the presidency and Hezbollah, he said. Lebanon has been under pressure by the United States to speed up the disarmament of Hezbollah but there are fears within Lebanon that forcing the issue could lead to civil conflict. 'Civil peace is a red line for me,' Aoun said. Aoun said the Lebanese army — of which he was formerly commander — is 'doing its duty' in confiscating weapons and dismantling unauthorized military facilities in southern Lebanon, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in late November, and sometimes in areas farther north. Lebanon-Syria talks in Damascus Also on Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria for talks with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar Assad's government in December. 'My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness,' Salam said in a statement on X. At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement. The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings. During Monday's meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border. The border area has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah militants who backed the Assad government during Syria's 14-year civil war. Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers. Seeking clarity on disappeared and imprisoned Lebanese in Syria Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria's nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities. Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government's collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment. In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, Salam said. Lebanon witnessed a series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war. Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon's political assassinations. Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees. Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the U.N. refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns. Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria. Syria's ambassador to Russia denies requesting asylum Also on Monday, Russia's state Tass news agency reported that Syrian Ambassador to Moscow Bashar Jaafari has requested asylum in Russia. The report, which wasn't confirmed by the authorities, followed Russian media claims that the interim government had asked Jaafari, a longtime ally of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, to return to Damascus.
Al Jazeera
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Lebanese PM visits Syria's president to reset years of strained relations
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has held talks in Damascus with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in his first official visit to Syria, in an effort to recalibrate relations between the two nations, which have been strained for decades. The diplomatic shuttle on Monday marks the highest-level Lebanese delegation visiting Syria since Beirut's new government took office in February, following the ouster of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad by opposition forces. A Lebanese official, speaking to the AFP news agency anonymously as they were not authorised to brief the media, described the visit as 'key to correcting the course of ties between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect'. Senior Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr, reporting from Damascus on a pivotal moment for Lebanon-Syria relations, said, 'No doubt this is a significant visit. Lebanese officials say that this is an opportunity to correct the trajectory of the relationship between the two countries.' The two nations have long faced strained ties marked by 'conflict, friction and tension', Khodr noted. 'There was a time when Bashar al-Assad was in power. Syria was accused of interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs in dictating domestic policy in Lebanon,' she said, recalling Syria's years of military presence in the neighbouring country and Hezbollah's support for al-Assad during Syria's civil war. Recent political shifts in both countries have opened new possibilities. 'New authorities are now in Damascus and there is also a new government in Lebanon … al-Assad is out of power, and his ally, Hezbollah in Lebanon, is no longer the dominant player,' Khodr said, adding that all this has led to a mutual desire to 'reset bilateral relations'. After the talks concluded and the Lebanese delegation left Damascus, Salam posted on X: 'My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighbourliness, preserving the sovereignty of our two countries, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. Lebanon's prime minister also noted that 'Discussions with President Ahmed al-Sharaa focused among other issues on border and crossing control, preventing smuggling, and ultimately demarcating the land and sea borders.' Relations between Lebanon and Syria have remained tense since al-Assad's fall. Additionally, both countries have been regularly bombarded by Israel. In Lebanon's case, that has come in spite of the November ceasefire that ended a year-long war. Monday's talks focused on border security, including efforts to combat smuggling and demarcate the 330km (205-mile) border. Last month, Lebanon and Syria's defence ministers signed a security agreement in Saudi Arabia following deadly border clashes that left 10 dead. Beirut was also expected to push for a joint investigation into past political killings in Lebanon linked to Syria's former leadership. Accompanied by senior ministers, Salam discussed the repatriation of Syrian refugees, with Lebanon estimating it hosts 1.5 million Syrians, though the United Nations has registered only 750,000. Before departing from Syria, Salam said he would also raise the issue of Lebanese detainees who vanished in Syrian prisons under al-Assad's rule. This visit follows a December meeting between al-Sharaa and former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the first such encounter since Syria's civil war began in 2011. Al-Sharaa had pledged in December that Damascus would respect Lebanon's sovereignty.
Al Jazeera
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Lebanon-Syria border clashes reflect new realities on the ground
Beirut, Lebanon – Recent clashes along the Lebanon-Syria border have drawn in their respective armies and threaten to disrupt both governments' efforts to establish their authority. The clashes appear to have calmed for the moment, as a ceasefire agreement between the two parties was reached late on Monday, March 17. Experts and analysts say the clashes are tied to the new reality on the ground, where Bashar al-Assad is no longer in power and Hezbollah's influence may be waning. Following Hezbollah's intervention in the Syrian war, it extended its authority over both sides of the border. But after Bashar al-Assad's regime spectacularly collapsed in early December, cutting off a key supply line for a Hezbollah diminished by an indiscriminate Israeli war on Lebanon, a struggle emerged. '[With] the fall of al-Assad's regime and Hezbollah's weakening, the Syrian-Lebanese border – and the zones of influence along it – is being redrawn,' Armenak Tokmajyan, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center, told Al Jazeera. Lebanon's border with Syria is 375km (233 miles) long and, despite domestic and international efforts over the years, is still not demarcated. Its rugged terrain, paired with the historical absence of the Lebanese state, made it ripe for smuggling – particularly in the area where the clashes took place. 'This section of the border – like the entire Lebanese-Syrian border – became increasingly blurred during the Syrian war,' Tokmajyan said. 'Hezbollah expanded into Syria through social, economic, and military networks, facilitating both licit and illicit cross-border activities.' On the Syrian side, Maher al-Assad's 4th Armoured Division facilitated smuggling operations with crime syndicates in Lebanon, according to Caroline Rose, director of the Strategic Blind Spots Portfolio at the New Lines Institute think tank. The crime syndicates are often run by members of powerful tribes in the northeast, who play integral roles in politics and local social affairs and have built relations with Hezbollah since the group's establishment in the 1980s, often having overlapping or shared interests. They 'now find themselves without a key ally and source of cross-border protection', Rose said, noting that since the fall of the al-Assad regime, the 4th Armoured Division could no longer operate. New governments have come to power in Lebanon and Syria and their respective leaders have spoken about the need to demarcate the border. This would disrupt smuggling routes for both crime syndicates and Hezbollah who, experts said, benefits from the current lawlessness along the undefined border. 'These clashes signify a key power struggle not only between criminal syndicates and clans engaged in illicit smuggling over the control of routes, but a greater struggle with state forces as their capacity grows in Syria and Lebanon, respectively,' Rose said. The latest round started on Saturday, March 15, after the killing of three Syrian soldiers. The circumstances of how they died, however, are disputed. Syria's interim government claims Hezbollah fighters entered Syrian territory, ambushed and kidnapped three soldiers near the Zeita Dam, brought them back to Lebanese territory, and executed them.'A group from Hezbollah militia ambushed and kidnapped three Syrian Arab Army personnel on the Syrian-Lebanese border near the Zeita Dam, west of Homs, before taking them to Lebanese territory and executing them on the spot,' SANA, the Syrian state-owned news agency wrote on X on March 16. The bodies of the three men were returned to Syria via the Lebanese Red Cross. Hezbollah denied any involvement in their deaths, saying in a statement it 'has no connection to any events taking place within Syrian territory'. Lebanese media reported that the three men entered Lebanese territory and clashed with people from local tribes – some of whom have relations with Hezbollah – who feared they were under attack. Lebanon's Minister of Information Paul Morcos said the three Syrian men were smugglers, while some local Lebanese media said they were smugglers with allegiances to the recently disbanded Syrian group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Many of Syria's top officials, including its new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, come from the group. What is known is that Syria's Ministry of Defence laid the blame on Hezbollah and dispatched troops to the border in the Homs province, across from Lebanon's northeast, where they began shelling Lebanese border towns.[Translation: Syrian Arab Army forces prepare to expel Hezbollah militia from the village of Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali in the Qusayr countryside, west of Homs.]The hostilities killed seven Lebanese citizens and 10 Syrian soldiers, while another 52 Lebanese were injured. Others were also wounded on the Syrian side, including some journalists embedded with the Syrian army. When the clashes began, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun sent troops to the area and instructed them to return fire. The sudden presence of the state – both in Lebanon and Syria – could also pose a threat to Hezbollah, who experts said had an interest in keeping the situation at the border chaotic. Marcel Baloukji, a former brigadier general who oversaw the Lebanese Army's border committee, told Al Jazeera much of the group's funding comes from smuggling carried out by local tribes. 'This is camouflage,' Baloukji told Al Jazeera about Hezbollah's denials that they were involved. Some of the tribes that clashed with Syrian forces, Baloukji said, were likely 'subcontracted' by Hezbollah to keep the area chaotic, so that the group could keep profiting from smuggling operations. But the group's influence is on the wane after Israel's brutal two-month bombing campaign that killed many party officials, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the fall of a crucial ally across the border. Some experts believe the tribes could abandon Hezbollah for their own interests, coming to agreements with the Lebanese army and new Syrian authorities. Hezbollah is also seen as a pariah by the new government in Syria due to its longstanding support and intervention on the side of the now-deposed al-Assad. 'The reasons behind such clashes may vary, but what's clear is that the boundaries and cross-border dynamics are being reshaped,' Tokmajyan said. 'And this is just the beginning of this process.'
