Syria was the dominant power in Lebanon for three decades under the Assad family, with President Hafez al-Assad intervening in its 1975-1990 civil war and his son Bashar al-Assad only withdrawing Syria's troops in 2005 following mass protests triggered by the assassination of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

Syria's new leader Ahmad Sharaa called on Lebanon on Saturday to forget about the past "negative" relations resulting from decades of the Assad family's rule, promising to resolve all lingering issues and establish long-term strategic ties.

Lebanon and Syria will work together to secure their land borders, as well as to delineate both land and sea borders, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday in Damascus. In the first trip by a Lebanese prime minister to neighbouring Syria in 15 years,

The visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati was the first official trip by the Lebanese leader to meet with the new government of Syria.

Najib Mikati’s visit, the first in 15 years, comes amid pressure in Lebanon to release Islamists imprisoned during the civil war and just after the election of President Joseph Aoun.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus on Saturday in a bid to improve long-fraught ties, with the pair focusing on strengthening their shared border.