On July 18, the Lebanese National News Agency carried the following report: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri held a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Naji al-Otari upon the completion of the activities of the Follow-Up and Coordination Committee between the two countries… [Following the statement of the Syrian prime minister], the Lebanese prime minister said:

We held excellent meetings with brother Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Otari and the other ministers, and we tackled the different facets of cooperation between Lebanon and Syria. As you know, the governmental delegation accompanying me is an expanded one which conveys the level of the relations between the two countries, as well as the level of our ambitions to develop these relations, launch coordination and enhance the elements of trust between the two countries and governments.

The dimensions of these meetings are extremely important to both Lebanon and Syria, and the proof of this is the signing of a basket of agreements and memorandums of understanding – after in-depth and serious consideration - which will allow a qualitative leap at the level of the economy, education, culture, the environment, public works, health and justice and many other issues that are key to the citizens in the two countries. As I said to the prime minister and the different ministers during the meetings, Lebanese and Syrians are connected with deeply-rooted ties which must be translated into close relations between the two countries and governments. At this point, I would like to point to President Bashar al-Assad’s direct sponsorship of our joint action to develop these relations, ones which are also permanently sponsored by President Michel Sleiman.

The arena of common interests between Lebanon and Syria is extremely wide and covers the economy, commerce, customs, culture, agriculture, environment, tourism and security sectors. What increases the need to immunize this arena is the fact that we are facing major challenges represented by Israeli attacks targeting our sovereignty and soil and our joint interest to liberate our occupied land in the Lebanese South and the Syrian Golan based on the Madrid conference and Arab peace initiative ratified during the Beirut summit in 2002.

Lebanon is the object of violations committed by the Israeli enemy against its air, land and water on a daily basis. It is facing these violations with national unity firstly, but also by relying on Arab support and international legitimacy represented by the decisions of the Security Council. The joint statement issued following our meetings conveys an advanced wish to see cooperation, based on the mutual respect of each of the two countries’ sovereignty and independence. We have also stressed the necessity to achieve a just peace and secure the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return, the rejection of naturalization and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

We also corroborated our insistence on proceeding with cooperation, coordination and the exchange of visits, stressing the necessity to secure the elements of economic comprehensiveness and complete the establishment of joint border offices to contain the border and prevent smuggling among other illicit acts. We also decided to proceed with efforts to link the two countries with railways and establish a joint industrial zone on the border. Moreover, we asked the joint committee to demarcate the border to launch its work and the missing people’s committee to complete its tasks as soon as possible… These headlines aim to enhance trust between the two countries as we want the relations between Lebanon and Syria to be an advanced model for the joint Arab market. We are looking forward to expanding the area of cooperation so that it includes other brotherly states…

I would like to thank once again President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian government and its head brother Muhammad Naji al-Otari, the Lebanese and Syrian ministers and the preparation committees which deployed massive efforts to ensure the success of this meeting. I hope that Prime Minister Al-Otari will respond to my invitation to visit Beirut soon in order to proceed without our coordination and consultation.