Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, inviting him to visit Beirut during a trip aimed at rebooting ties between the two neighbours.

Salam and his foreign, defence and interior ministers made the first trip to Damascus by senior Lebanese officials since a new government was formed in Beirut in February, two months after an Islamist-led alliance ousted longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Salam met with interim President Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and invited them "to visit Lebanon", his office said in a statement.

Salam's visit sought to turn "a new page in the course of relations between the two countries based on mutual respect, the restoration of trust... preservation of our countries' sovereignty and non-interference in each other's internal affairs", according to the........

© Al Monitor