ISTANBUL 

Syria announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with Lebanon to transfer Syrian prisoners not convicted of murder, during a visit to Lebanon by a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, director of the Arab Affairs Department at the Syrian Foreign Ministry, told state-run AliIkhbariah TV that “we have reached an agreement to hand over Syrian prisoners, except those whose crimes involved shedding innocent blood.”

Al-Ahmad added that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa attaches great importance to the issue of Syrian detainees in Lebanon, noting that Lebanon’s response was “very positive, and we hope this will turn a new page in relations.”

He said that the matter of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons had been raised during three meetings, with direct communication held with Lebanese officials on the issue.

Al-Ahmad also pointed out that “many of the charges against Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons are fabricated.”

There are currently around 2,000 Syrian prisoners in Lebanon, many of whom remain detained for alleged support for the Syrian revolution from 2011–2024, or for providing humanitarian or logistical aid to opposition factions that fought against the deposed regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Al-Shaibani arrived in Beirut with a delegation to meet Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Foreign Minister Youssef Raji.

In April, Salam met Sharaa in Damascus, in the first visit by a Lebanese official since Sharaa took office, and discussed several issues of mutual concern, most notably Syrian detainees in Lebanon.