Asaad Al Shibani Receives Hero’s Welcome in Tripoli After Meeting Lebanese Leaders

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani was carried on the shoulders of supporters through the streets of Tripoli as hundreds gathered along the entrances to the city and outside Dar Al Fatwa, waving Syrian flags and chanting slogans in support of Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara and Mr Al Shibani as his convoy arrived.

“Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Al-Shaibani conducted talks on Thursday evening with the Mufti of Tripoli and the North of Lebanon, Mohammad Tariq Imam, as well as deputies and representatives of religious sects and economic and social figures, focusing on "strengthening fraternal ties between the two countries to serve common interests," according to a statement from the Syrian Foreign Ministry”

Al-Jazeera Net

The National News Agency quoted Al Shibani describing the visit as a "gesture of loyalty" to the people of Tripoli, after he attended a meeting with Tripoli Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Imam and Akkar Mufti Sheikh Zaid Bakkar Zakaria, alongside Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, politicians, Christian and Muslim clerics, and business leaders.

Al-Jazeera Net

Al Jazeera Net said Al-Shaibani closed his visit to Lebanon with a trip to Tripoli amid a popular reception welcoming the first visit by a Syrian official to the city since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024.

Al-Shaibani thanked the people of Tripoli for the "warm reception" and said the visit was "a tribute to them, who stood by the Syrian revolution with great appreciation and salute," according to Al Jazeera Net.

The National framed the visit as illustrating a shift in relations between Lebanon's Sunni heartland and Syria since the downfall of Bashar Al Assad, while also highlighting Syrian efforts to deepen ties with Lebanon while distancing itself from the policies of the Assad era.

In Beirut, Shibani’s tour included meetings with President Joseph Aoun, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, with Al-Quds Al-Arabi saying the visit aimed to reassure tensions with the Shiite component while addressing discussions in Damascus about completing the visit after the Speaker’s exclusion during the previous visit.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that after meeting Berri, Shibani denied that "the Hezbollah file was raised during the meeting" and, when asked about a possible meeting with Hezbollah, said, "If the interest requires a meeting with Hezbollah, we are open," stressing that the discussion with Berri centered on strengthening Lebanon-Syria relations.

Anadolu Ajansi

Annahar said Salam and Shibani held a joint press conference after their meeting, where Shibani pledged a platform for relevant ministries to develop economic, investment, and commercial partnerships, as well as security understandings and broader cooperation.

Al Jazeera Net quoted Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Metri saying the visit reflects openness to all people and currents within the Lebanese spiritual groups and that "this is evidence that Syria wants to open up to Lebanon and to all Lebanese without interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs."

The National News Agency also reported that Lebanese officials who met Al Shibani said he assured them that Damascus has no intention of returning to the decades-long policy of influencing Lebanon's internal affairs.

Beyond the diplomatic meetings, Dakarposte said that on Saturday, December 28, 67 Syrians, including dozens of soldiers who had entered Lebanon illegally, were handed over to the new Syrian authorities at a border post in the north of the country.

Dakarposte added that the group included a 40-day-old infant and that it had been arrested Thursday by municipal police in the north of Mount Lebanon while trying to reach Beirut, while an angry crowd in Tripoli arrested and mistreated about ten young Syrians before handing them over to the Lebanese army.

Annahar reported that the talks in Beirut were followed by the signing of an agreement between the Lebanese and Syrian governments to establish the Lebanese-Syrian Supreme Joint Committee, described as modeled on existing Supreme Joint Committees between Lebanon and several sister Arab states.

The National said Lebanese officials announced that both sides had signed an agreement establishing a Syrian-Lebanese Higher Committee earlier in the day, and it quoted Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri saying Lebanon and Syria were linked by "common interests, mutual respect and trust".

Dakarposte also said Lebanese justice ordered the arrest of Rifaat al-Assad's granddaughter and her mother for possession of forged passports, and that documents reportedly issued by Syrian consular services in Lebanon led the new Syrian Foreign Minister, Assaad al-Chibani, to temporarily suspend all activities of the embassy in Beirut.