Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani’s visit to Lebanon has concluded, but its effects are likely to endure for some time. It was his second visit to Beirut, yet it differed from the first in both form and substance.
On his first visit, meetings were limited to President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. This time, his schedule included religious and political figures. The most notable meeting, however, was with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose absence from the first visit had raised many questions. At the time, Syrian sources merely stressed that they had no objection to meeting the Speaker of Parliament, and that the omission was nothing more than an organisational matter on the Lebanese side, which had drawn up the visit’s programme.
This time, the meeting took place. It was a closed bilateral encounter between Berri and al-Shaibani, and every leaked detail was positive. Al-Shaibani even invited Berri to visit Damascus, but given Berri’s health and security circumstances, such a visit may not happen soon. In return, Berri reiterated his constant commitment to Lebanon’s Arab depth and to the view that Syria constitutes Lebanon’s Arab gateway.
Al-Shaibani’s visit came, for the most part, to reaffirm what Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said repeatedly, especially in his most recent televised interview. He reassured all Lebanese that Syria does not intend to interfere in Lebanon and that relations would be based on respect for each state’s sovereignty, without interference in internal affairs. In other words, it would be a relationship between two states through official institutions.
Al-Sharaa, who spoke of the crimes committed by Hezbollah and Iranian militias in Syria, did not rule out the possibility of meeting the party if such a meeting served the Syrian and Lebanese national interest. Al-Shaibani repeated the same position. This was met with disapproval on the streets of Syria and among parts of the Lebanese public.
