BEIRUT, Lebanon / ISTANBUL 

Lebanon's new Army Commander, General Rodolph Haykal, said on Friday that the military is in contact with Syrian authorities to tighten control of the northern and eastern borders.

Haykal made the remarks during an emergency meeting with senior officers at the army headquarters in Yarze, near Beirut.

“We are coordinating with Syrian authorities on border control in a way that serves the common interest of both countries,” he said.

The comments came a day after a planned Lebanese-Syrian meeting to discuss the fate of Syrian detainees in Lebanon, and border demarcation was postponed.

A government source told Anadolu the Syrian delegation was expected to include representatives from the interior, defense, foreign affairs, and justice ministries, along with intelligence officials, to meet a Lebanese ministerial committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri.

Mitri later wrote on the US social media platform X that no new date has been set for the talks.

In April, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, marking the first visit by a Lebanese official since Sharaa took office. The talks covered several issues, including the fate of Syrian detainees in Lebanon.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia last December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

A new transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January.