Lebanon’s Prime Minister Meets With Syrian Leader

In his first official visit to Syria to meet with the new government there, the Lebanese prime minister on Saturday called for a way for the two countries to enable masses of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to head home.

The prime minister, Najib Mikati, met in the Syrian capital of Damascus with Ahmad al-Shara, the leader of the new Syrian government, on Saturday afternoon, according to the Lebanese prime minister’s office. Mr. al-Shara leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist group that spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled the decades-long rule of Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian president, last month.

At a news conference in Damascus, Mr. Mikati said both countries should quickly resolve the matter of the more than one million refugees that Lebanon took in as a result of the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. While some have since returned, many others still remain in Lebanon.

“It has become urgent today — in the interest of both countries — to deal with this issue as quickly as possible and return the displaced to a Syria that is thankfully recovering,” said Mr. Mikati, adding that he believed Mr. al-Shara supported the effort.

Mr. al-Shara said the two leaders had discussed “outstanding issues” including border security, but did not make any comment about the return of refugees. He said committees would be set up to examine how to sort out various problems, but he urged Syrians to lower their expectations for a speedy overhaul of the impoverished country.

“We have a lot of problems in Syria,” Mr. al-Shara said. “We won’t be able to solve them all at once. We have to divide them up and look for solutions to each one.”