Syria Open to Talks with Hezbollah

During a visit to Beirut on Thursday, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said Damascus is open to meeting with the Lebanese group Hezbollah if it serves mutual interests. It was his first official visit to Lebanon since US President Donald Trump raised the possibility that a new Syrian army might fight Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The new Syrian government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, has become a US ally since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in 2024 and is working to maintain stability after 14 years of civil war.

Shibani met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. He assured them that Hezbollah was not on the agenda of the talks and that Syria would not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs.

President Sharaa had previously categorically denied rumors of Syrian troops entering Lebanon.

According to Reuters, the US encouraged Syria in March to send forces into eastern Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus has rejected such a mission. It fears being drawn into a broader Middle East conflict and stoking religious tensions between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians. Trump's envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, has dismissed these reports as false. Syria first sent troops into Lebanon in 1976 and did not withdraw them until 2005.

(Reuters, Max)