Syria and Hezbollah held secret talks in Turkey — Jerusalem Post

Representatives of the Syrian government and the Lebanese group Hezbollah met secretly in Turkey at least once in September to reduce tensions between the sides. The Jerusalem Post, which published a Reuters report, cited six informed sources.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Hezbollah, Syrian intelligence, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the sources, the talks took place at the invitation of Turkish security and intelligence structures. Reuters' interlocutors included two Syrian officials, a U.S. official, and a senior Lebanese source close to Hezbollah.

Discussion of security issues

According to one Syrian official, the sides agreed that they had no hostile intentions toward each other. Syria also assured Hezbollah that it would not intervene militarily in Lebanon to disarm the group.

At the same time, Syrian representatives asked Hezbollah to help stop smuggling attempts across the border and dismantle the group's cells that, according to their information, remained primarily in southern Syria. Hezbollah representatives gave no direct answer to this demand but promised not to interfere in Syria's internal affairs, the Syrian official said.

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On Tuesday, Syria said it had detained a Hezbollah cell that, according to its version, was preparing to launch rockets in the south of the country. The following day, Hezbollah denied involvement, saying it had no presence on Syrian territory and was not engaged there in security or military activities.

Turkey's mediation

A Lebanese source with direct knowledge of the talks said the sides had made significant progress on security issues. However, no final agreement was concluded, and no public announcement of the meeting had been planned. Contacts between Damascus and Hezbollah through Turkish mediation, according to this information, began about two months before the talks.

Iran was not a direct participant in the meeting. According to the Lebanese source, Hezbollah took part in the talks with Tehran's knowledge, but Iran was dissatisfied with the lack of direct participation. The source called this one of the reasons why the sides did not reach a final agreement.