Lebanese president wants dialogue on Hezbollah disarmament

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Beirut – The Lebanese president said on Monday that the militant group Hezbollah’s disarmament will be negotiated as part of its defense strategy rather than through “force.”

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Joseph Aoun said in an interview with Al Al Jazeera, Catari broadcaster, that the Lebanese government decided that “weapons can only be in the hands of the state” but “a discussion on how to implement this decision”.

He said the discussions were in the form of “bilateral dialogue” between the president and Hezbollah.

Lebanon faces pressure from the United States to speed up Hezbollah’s disarmament, but there are some internal concerns within Lebanon that it could lead to civil conflict.

“People peace is a red line for me,” Aoun said.

Aoun said the Lebanese army (he was formerly commander) was “fulfilling its duties” to confiscate weapons and dismantle unauthorized military facilities in southern Lebanon, as outlined in the Ceasefire Agreement, the latest Israeli-Her Hebra war, sometimes in late November and sometimes even in northern northern areas.

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Lebanon – Syria held in Damascus

Also on Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a delegation of senior ministers to Syria to hold talks with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the most important diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of the Bashar Assad government in December.

“My visit to Damascus today is intended to build a relationship between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighbors,” Salam said in a statement on X.

In a statement, Salam said at the center of the discussion that an agreement signed in Saudi Arabia, signed by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers in Saudi Arabia to delineate land and maritime borders and improve coordination of border security issues.

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Lebanon-The Syrian border suffered a deadly conflict earlier this year, with years of unrest in the border areas, haunted by weapons and illegal drugs that cross weapons.

At Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, to close down illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activities along the border.

The border areas have long been a corridor of illegal trade, arms trafficking and combatants, including Hezbollah militants who supported the Assad government during the 14-year civil war in Syria.

Hezbollah has been greatly weakened in its recent war with Israel, and since Assad’s removal it has lost several major smuggling routes that once relied on weapons transfers.

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Seeking clear disappearance, incarcerated Lebanese in Syria

Lebanon also urges Syria to clearly understand the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syria during Syria’s nearly 30 years of military presence in Lebanon.

Syrian officials raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanon prisons, Salaam said. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized many of these cases and the harsh conditions inside the detention center.

Ministerial sources told the Associated Press that Lebanon promised to involve crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces involving those involved, many of them are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government collapses and, if found on Lebanon soil, fled to Lebanon.

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Officials spoke on anonymous because they did not have the right to comment publicly.

In return, Lebanese officials demanded extradition to the high-profile political assassination of Syrians in Lebanese courts, Salam said.

Lebanon has witnessed a series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, especially those who oppose Syria’s influence. Spillovers in Syria’s war have exacerbated sectarian tensions when double explosions in 2013 at Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people.

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Syria has never formally admitted to participating in any political assassination in Lebanon.

Salam said he also promoted new cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate that the country has about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of which about 755,000 are officially registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency (United Nations Refugee Agency), making it the country with the largest number of refugees per capita in the world.

Although Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support mass repatriation efforts, human rights groups have warned against forced returns.

UNHCR said that since Assad’s fall in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, about half of which are from Lebanon, but many are hesitant due to severe economic conditions and fears.

Syria’s ambassador to Russia denies requesting asylum

Also on Monday, the Russian State Tass News reported that Syrian Moscow Bashar Jaafari was seeking asylum in Russia. The report was not confirmed by authorities, with Russian media claiming that the interim government had asked Jaafari, a long-time ally of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, to return to Damascus.

Jaafari later denied asking for asylum in an interview with another Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.

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