BEIRUT/ISTANBUL

Lebanon plans to transfer more than 300 Syrian prisoners to Syria under a bilateral agreement between the two countries, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri said on Friday.

Mitri made the remarks after a Cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, chaired by President Joseph Aoun and attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

The Lebanese Cabinet approved an agreement with Syria providing for the transfer of more than 300 convicted Syrian prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentences in their home country, Mitri told the press.

The deal applies to inmates who have spent more than 10 years in Lebanese prisons, equivalent to about seven years of effective imprisonment, he added, without providing further details on the terms.

On Oct. 10, 2025, Damascus announced it had reached an agreement with Beirut to hand over Syrian detainees not convicted of murder, following a visit to Lebanon by a delegation led by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, according to Alikhbariah TV.

Official estimates put the number of Syrians held in Lebanese prisons at around 2,500, roughly one-third of Lebanon’s total prison population.

On Nov. 20, 2025, Mitri paid an official visit to Syria, where he met President Ahmad al-Sharaa and other senior officials, as part of renewed diplomatic engagement aimed at addressing outstanding issues and strengthening bilateral cooperation following the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024.

* Writing by Mohammad Sio