New Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will begin parliamentary consultations today over designating a prime minister to form a government that will have to face major challenges in the crisis-hit country.

The visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati was the first official trip by the Lebanese leader to meet with the new government of Syria.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will meet Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Saturday, two Lebanese sources said, becoming the first head of government to visit Syria's capital since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Najib Mikati will visit Damascus on Syria’s new administration leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's invitation - Anadolu Ajansı

Syria's new ruler and Lebanon's prime minister pledged on Saturday to build lasting ties during the first visit by a Lebanese head of government to Damascus since the civil war started in 2011.Prime Minister Najib Mikati's trip came after Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus last month,

Lebanon and Syria will work together to secure their land borders, as well as to delineate both land and sea borders, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday in Damascus. In the first trip by a Lebanese prime minister to neighbouring Syria in 15 years,

Syria's new leader Ahmad Sharaa called on Lebanon on Saturday to forget about the past "negative" relations resulting from decades of the Assad family's rule, promising to resolve all lingering issues and establish long-term strategic ties.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus on Saturday in a bid to improve long-fraught ties, with the pair focusing on strengthening their shared border.

The visit by Lebanese PM Najib Mikati to Damascus marks the first for a senior Lebanese official to Syria in years