Hariri in Damascus for Talks with Assad
Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in Damascus on Saturday to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad for the first time ever since both leaders rose to power.
Hariri was met on arrival by Syria”s minister for presidential affairs, Mansour Azzam, and the Lebanese Ambassador to Damascus Michel al-Khoury — Beirut”s first ever envoy to the Syrian capital.
Hariri then headed to Teshrin Palace to hold his first talks with Assad.
Syria”s state-run news agency SANA said the visit would last two days.
The Emirati al-Khaleej daily quoted well-informed sources as describing the visit as "a reconciliation visit."
The newspaper stressed that "the full details of the visit are of pure Saudi “direction,”" adding that "Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah, son of the Saudi king, is the one who took charge of the preparations."
Hariri was expected to visit Damascus last Sunday, but the visit was postponed due to the many questions raised by countries sponsoring the reconciliation efforts about the reason of Syrian warrants against a number of Lebanese officials.
After years of tense ties over the murder of his father, ex-premier Rafiq, Hariri told parliament this month he was interested in forging "brotherly ties" with Damascus.
The 39-year-old premier has had tense ties with Syria ever since the massive Beirut bombing in February 2005 that killed his father and 22 others, pointing his finger at Damascus at the time.
The Hariri murder was widely blamed on Syria, which withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a 29-year military presence.
Damascus has consistently denied involvement.
In December, a Syrian court asked 25 Lebanese figures, including the police chief, top prosecutor and figures from the Hariri camp, to appear for questioning over the Hariri murder.