Top Lebanese Druze figure visits Syria, meets with HTS’s al-Julani to reset troubled Lebanon-Syria ties

A prominent Lebanese politician holds talks with the insurgent who led the overthrow of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations between their countries.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt was a longtime critic of Syria’s involvement in Lebanon and blames Assad’s father, former president Hafez al-Assad, for the assassination of his own father decades ago. He is the most prominent Lebanese politician to visit Syria since the Assad family’s 54-year rule came to an end.

He meets with Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, who led the Sunni Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that swept into Damascus earlier this month and forced the younger Assad from power.

“We salute the Syrian people for their great victories and we salute you for your battle that you waged to get rid of oppression and tyranny that lasted over 50 years,” says Jumblatt, a key figure in Lebanon’s Druze minority and the former leader of a leftist party.

He expresses hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”