Hariri. No longer anti-Syrian?
צילום: AP
Hariri to Syria for official visit
Lebanese premier to visit long-time foe Syria in bid to forge new 'brotherly ties' with President Assad
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is to visit long-time foe Syria on Saturday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on bilateral relations, his office said.
There was no immediate word on when he would travel, or for how long he would stay in Syria.
After years of tense ties over the murder of his father, ex-premier Rafiq, Hariri told parliament this month he was interested in forging "brotherly ties" with Damascus.
The 39-year-old premier has had tense ties with Syria ever since the massive Beirut bombing in February 2005 that killed his father and 22 others, pointing his finger at Damascus at the time.
The Hariri murder was widely blamed on Syria, which withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a 29-year military presence.
Damascus has consistently denied involvement.
A UN inquiry in June said it had evidence that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were linked to the killing.
In December, a Syrian court asked 25 Lebanese figures, including the police chief, top prosecutor and figures from the Hariri camp, to appear for questioning over the Hariri murder.
The previous month, Hariri's 30-member cabinet adopted a policy statement despite reservations by his Christian allies on a clause that deals with the weapons of the Syria- and Iran-backed Shiite party Hezbollah.
The government was formed five months after Hariri's US- and Western-backed coalition defeated a Hezbollah-led alliance in a legislative vote.
