Mikati visits Damascus on 1st trip by Lebanese PM since Syria war
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Damascus Saturday in the first such visit since before civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, an AFP journalist reported.
His visit comes as the neighboring countries seek better relations after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad last month.
He is expected to hold talks with Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The visit comes days after Lebanese lawmakers elected the country's army chief Joseph Aoun as president, ending a more than two-year vacancy.
Deadlock between pro- and anti-Hezbollah blocs in parliament had impeded a dozen previous attempts to fill the vacancy but Hezbollah emerged weakened from two months of full-fledged war with Israel late last year.
Syria was the dominant power in Lebanon for three decades under the Assad clan but withdrew its troops in 2005 in the face of international pressure over the assassination of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Source: Agence France Presse
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