Beirut and Damascus are inching closer to a deal under which most of the Syrians detained in Lebanese jails would be transferred to their homeland, a judicial source told The National.
The issue of the thousands of Syrian prisoners held in Lebanon has long been a key sticking point in bilateral relations. But a Lebanese-Syrian judicial committee met in Beirut this week to push the matter forward, making progress on reaching an agreement.
“There is progress after the last meeting was held,” a Lebanese judicial source told The National. They stressed that while a deal was not yet over the line, "you can safely say there is progress".
The Syrian delegation, led by Justice Minister Mazhar Al Wais, then visited Roumieh Prison, Lebanon's largest jail, where he met several inmates.
More than 2,000 Syrians are detained in Lebanon's overcrowded prisons. A deal would allow them to return to Syria, to serve their sentence or be prosecuted there. But this would not apply to those convicted of murder or who fought against Lebanese security forces.
The judicial committee is expected to meet again but the source said neither a date nor a location has been confirmed. The meeting could lead to a Lebanese delegation visiting Damascus.
Mr Al Wais said both sides were “closely aligned” and the focus was now on finalising the legal framework. After months of talk of a potential deal but no direct meetings, progress has accelerated in recent weeks.
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani has held talks with top Lebanese officials, becoming the most senior Syrian official to visit Lebanon since the collapse of the Assad regime. The prisoner issue was a key part of the talks, amid a wider push for a new era in relations between the neighbouring countries.
Hundreds of Syrian prisoners, accused of terrorism or related offences − including attacks on Lebanese forces − have been brought before military courts.
Some were members of Syrian rebel groups, including Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, which led the offensive that toppled Bashar Al Assad from the presidency. Many others have never faced trial.
Some are detained over their suspected involvement in the 2014 clashes in Arsal, in Lebanon's north-east, when an assortment of Syrian rebels clashed with the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Beirut is seeking information on the status of Lebanese who disappeared in Syria during the decades-long Assad regime, which collapsed last December in the face of a dramatic, lightning rebel offensive.
The Lebanese government also wants information on the whereabouts of those accused of involvement in political assassinations in Lebanon, who fled and have been sheltered by the former Syrian regime.
One case often mentioned by Lebanese officials is that of Habib Shartouni, convicted of the 1982 assassination of Bachir Gemayel, who was then Lebanon's president-elect. Shartouni's whereabouts are unknown but he was widely believed to have fled to Syria.
