Kinshasa, November 15th, 2026 (CPA).-The Syrian Minister in charge of the Interior has examined, on Sunday, with his Lebanese counterpart, the ways to strengthen security cooperation and coordination between the two countries in order to consolidate security and stability in the region.
“We have reaffirmed the depth of Syrian-Lebanese relations as well as our shared commitment to developing them in all areas, in the interests of the security and stability of our two countries and our two brotherly peoples,” Anas Khattab, the Syrian Minister in charge of the Interior has written.
The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Syrian Ministry in charge of the Interior, has focused specifically on border control and border posts, as well as on the organisation of crossings between Lebanon and Syria,The two neighbouring countries share a porous border of some 330 kilometres in length.
As a reminder, the Lebanese Minister in charge of the Interior, Ahmad Hajjar of his part, had considered that it was in Lebanon’s interest for its relations with Syria “to be the best possible, given the many shared challenges, ranging from the issue of borders and illegal crossings to economic interests, all of which require enhanced coordination”.
He had also highlighted the ‘good results’ achieved by both countries in the fight against drugs, noting that the regime change in Damascus in December 2024, following the flight of the dictator Bashar al-Assad to Moscow in the wake of a lightning offensive by rebel groups led by the current president, Ahmad al-Shareh, ‘has helped to bring the situation under better control and to strengthen the fight against this phenomenon, as the new Syrian authorities are working to combat drug trafficking’.
Minister Hajjar, moreover, was ultimately not part of the Lebanese ministerial delegation that had travelled to Damascus in early November, after Anas Khattab has cancelled the meeting with Mr Hajjar at the last minute due to an emergency.
The visit of four Lebanese ministers had then focused primarily on issues relating to Syrian migrants and refugees in Lebanon, and had been marked by the first visit to Syria by a Hezbollah minister, Mohammad Haidar, since the fall of the Assad regime.
Since then, Damascus has announced on several occasions that it has seized weapons – notably near the Lebanese border – which would have been destined for the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia party, and arrested alleged members of the group. Hezbollah rejects these accusations and claims it no longer carries out any activities in Syria.
Damascus has also repeatedly denied, in recent months, any intention of intervening militarily to help Lebanon disarm the militia, despite pressure from Washington to do so. ACP/