Syria, Lebanon sign agreement on border issue

Syria and Lebanon have signed an agreement on demarcating borders in Jeddah on Friday. The agreement was signed by Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and Lebanese Defence Minister Michel Menassa who held talks in the presence of Saudi Arabian Defence Minister Khalid Bin Salman.

It has been agreed to form specialised committees to sort out the details. There were tensions between Syria and Lebanon earlier in the month when three Syrian soldiers were reported to have been kidnapped by Hezbollah and killed, while seven Lebanese soldiers were killed in the skirmishes between the two countries.

The Syrian and Lebanese ministers had agreed on the “strategic importance o demarcate border”. The new Syrian government which had taken control after the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad had suspected Iranian-backed Hezbollah of supporting the pro-Assad regime elements, but Hezbollah had denied involvement.

The situation in Syria is of strategic importance and interest. When Bashar Al Assad was in power, it was quite evident that Iran, along with Russia, was supporting his government. Turkey was opposed to the Assad government because they suspected that it supported the Kurdish rebels. But in the last few months of Assad’s regime, Turkey was willing to restore relations with Damascus.

Similarly, there was a division in Lebanon over the Syrian factor. Many of the refugees who had fled Syria after the 2011 Arab Spring rebellion, went to Lebanon and to Turkey.

The latest agreement is a recognition that Syria and Lebanon have to respect each other’s independent status, and that neither side can claim to have any strategic interest in the other country. The securing of the Lebanon-Syria border is also expected to end the smuggling, especially of drugs, from Lebanon into Syria. It has been a complaint made even by the Saudi authorities.

The strategic contours of the Middle East are changing. With the new government in place in Damascus, the internal strife in the country has ended. The pro-Assad forces have been pushed back after a breakout of clashes in the north-east of the country.

Lebanon, which had been through political and economic turmoil in the last few years, is trying to find its feet. Lebanon has been under attack from Israel in the wake of the war in Gaza. After a brief lull, Israel has resumed attacks in south Lebanon. Israel has been hostile towards Syria, which goes a long way back in the history of the region. And Syria-Israel relations will continue to be tense.

Saudi Arabia playing the mediator between Lebanon and Syria is the new factor in diplomacy in the region. Riyadh is acceptable to both Damascus’ new government as well as to the government in Beirut. This will most likely keep out the interference of outside powers like the United States and France. France has shown concern and interest in both Syria and Lebanon. The French connection in the two countries is quite strong.

But the Saudi mediation shows that the internal differences in the region need to be sorted out by the regional players themselves. Saudi Arabia, which is the immediate neighbour to both Syria and Lebanon, helps Riyadh in playing the mediator’s role.

Syria’s President Ahmed Al Sharaa, who had led the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which has now been disbanded, and whose fighters have become part of the Syrian army, has restored a sense of stability to Syria unlike the polarising impact of Bashar Al Assad, who was opposed by the United States and supported by Russia and Iran. Syria was a bone of contention. Now, outside powers are not declaring their stakes in Syria and in Lebanon. This lends to regional solutions to internal differences.