BEIRUT, July 2 (Reuters) – Syria’s foreign minister travelled to Beirut on Thursday to meet Lebanese government leaders, in his first visit there since U.S. President Donald Trump raised the possibility of Syrian forces combating Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, however, has previously denied what he called rumours about any Syrian presence entering Lebanon.
The Syrian minister, Asaad al-Shibani, met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on his first stop, and then headed for a meeting with the parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah.
Syria’s new government under former al Qaeda commander Sharaa has emerged as a U.S. ally since his forces toppled President Bashar al-Assad in 2024, and has largely stayed out of the regional war between the U.S. and Israel, and Iran.
Trump said last month he had spoken to Sharaa about combating Hezbollah, after criticizing Israel — which is at war with the group — for killing too many civilians in Lebanon and not getting the job done. “I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah, because to be honest with you, I think they do a better job of doing it,” Trump said.
DAMASCUS WARY OF BEING DRAWN INTO WAR
Reuters reported in March that the U.S. had encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but that Damascus was reluctant to embark on such a mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming sectarian tensions in Syria and Lebanon.
Sharaa has since Trump’s comments said that “the rumours circulating about Syria entering Lebanon are completely unfounded”, according to Syrian state media.
The former rebels and commanders that now run Syria fought against Hezbollah for years while it deployed to Syria to support former President Bashar al-Assad.
Now that they are in power, they are having to calibrate alliances and military action carefully in efforts to maintain relative stability in Syria, which is still recovering from 14 years of civil war.
Syria long dominated Lebanon under the Assad family, sending in forces in 1976 during the 1975-90 civil war and controlling Lebanon’s post-war politics until its withdrawal in 2005.
Any Syrian intervention could fuel sectarian tensions in both Syria and Lebanon, home to a mosaic of sects including Sunni Muslims, Shi’ite Muslims, Christians and Druze.
(Reporting by Feras Delatey and Jana Choukeir; Writing by John Davison; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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