Lebanon says expects ‘best neighbourly relations’ with Syria

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed his hope Thursday for close ties with Syria’s new rulers after a phone call with his Syrian counterpart, Beirut said.

“Lebanon hopes for the best neighbourly relations with the new government in Syria,” Bou Habib told Damascus’s top diplomat Assaad Hassan al-Shibani, according to a statement from the Lebanese foreign ministry, more than two weeks after the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Assad’s ties with Beirut had long been shaky, including over his government’s alliance with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.