Deal is signed in Beirut to transfer 300 Syrian prisoners in Lebanon to their home country

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon and Syria signed an agreement Friday to transfer more than 300 Syrians from Lebanese prisons to continue serving their sentences in their home country, a step that will likely help improve strained relations between the two neighbors.

The signing came a week after Lebanon’s Cabinet approved a treaty with Syria for the transfer of prisoners. The deal was signed at the government headquarters in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, by Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and Syria’s Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais.

“This is a very important first step on the road of a comprehensive treatement regarding Syrian prisoners in Lebanese prisons,” Mitri told reporters, adding that the implementation of the agreement would start on Saturday.

“Both countries want to move forward but there are some pending matters,” al-Wais said. “This step will boost existing confidence and we hope that relations will progress more.”

Mitri said that next, officials from the two neighboring countries, will discuss the transfer of Syrian detainees who are still waiting trial in Lebanon.

Lebanon and Syria have a complicated history, with grievances on both sides. Many Lebanese resent nearly three decades of domination and military presence in their country by Syrian forces that ended in 2005.

Many Syrians resent the role played by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah when it entered Syria’s civil war that broke out in 2011 in defense of then-President Bashar Assad and his government. Assad was overthrown in December 2024 and fled to Russia where he is now in exile.

After Assad’s fall, relations with Syria’s new Islamist-led authorities remained tense and skirmishes occurred along the unmarked border between the two nations.

Mitri also said Saturday’s signing was “an expression of a joint political will that states that the Lebanese-Syrian relations are based on confidence and mutual respect.”

Asked whether the deal will include Lebanese citizens such as Sunni Muslim cleric Ahmed al-Assir, Mitri said that it only covers Syrian prisoners.

There are about 2,500 Syrian prisoners in Lebanese prisons and jails, some of whom are held on charges related to their involvement with armed opposition groups that sought to overthrow Assad — in some cases, the same groups that are now ruling Syria.

Earlier this week, Mitri told The Associated Press that most of the detainees who will be transferred to Syria were not convicted of violent crimes. Some of those convicted of violent crimes may be transferred if they have already served seven and a half years of their sentence in Lebanon, he said.