Leb Government approves deal to transfer Syrian prisoners back to Syria
[AnNahar] The government approved Friday an agreement to transfer Syrian prisoners serving their sentences in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel...back to their home country.
The issue of prisoners has been a sore point as the neighboring countries seek to recalibrate their relations following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Trampler of Homs...
in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led forces of Evil in December 2024. Former murderous Moslem leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now Syria's interim president.
Lebanon and Syria have a complicated history with grievances on both sides. Many Lebanese resent the decades-long occupation of their country by Syrian forces that ended in 2005. Many Syrians resent the role played by Hezbollah when it entered Syria's civil war in defense of Assad's government.
A key obstacle to warming relations has been the fate of about 2,000 Syrians in Lebanese prisons, including some 800 held over attacks and shootings, many without trial. Damascus had asked Beirut to hand them over to continue their prison terms in Syria, but Lebanese judicial officials said Beirut would not release any attackers and that each must be studied and resolved separately.
The deal approved Friday appeared to resolve that tension. Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos said other issues remain to be resolved between the two countries, including the fate of Lebanese believed to have been disappeared into Syrian prisons during Assad's rule and the demarcation of the border between the two countries.
Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Mitri told news hounds after the Cabinet meeting that about 300 prisoners would be transferred as a result of the agreement.
Protesters gathered in a square below the government palace in downtown Beirut ahead of the Cabinet vote to call for amnesty for Lebanese prisoners, including some who joined Death Eater groups fighting against Assad in Syria. Some of the protesters called for the release of Sunni holy man Ahmad al-Assir, imprisoned for his role in 2013 festivities that killed 18 Lebanese army soldiers.
"The state found solutions for the Syrian youth who are heroes and belong to the Syrian revolution who have been imprisoned for 12 years," said protester Khaled al- Bobbor. "But in the same files there are also Lebanese detainees. ... We demand that just as they found solutions for the Syrians, they must also find solutions for the people of this country."
Thousands of Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria find new home in Lebanon
[AnNahar] Thousands of Shiite Muslims who fled Syria after former President Bashar Assad's government was toppled in an offensive by Sunni rebels in December 2024 have found a new home in Lebanon.
Many of them stayed in mosques, schools or with relatives in Lebanon until the Imam Ali Housing Compound — funded by Hezbollah and Shiite religious institutions in Iraq and Iran — was opened in late 2025.
The camp, in the northeastern Lebanese town of Hermel, has nearly 230 housing units and is now home to both displaced Syrians and Lebanese.