Syria's al-Sharaa meets Lebanese PM in bid to improve long-fraught ties

FILE PHOTO: Vehicles queue to enter Lebanon, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, near the Lebanese-Syrian border, in Syria, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

(Reuters) -Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus on Saturday in a bid to improve long-fraught ties, with the pair focusing on strengthening their shared border.

The trip was the first by a head of government to Syria since Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a sweeping rebel offensive on Dec. 8, and the first visit by a Lebanese premier to neighbouring Syria in 15 years.