Albawaba.com
Damascus
Syria has dismissed as baseless reports saying President Bashar Assad will visit Lebanon by the end of the week.
Sources at the foreign ministry told Albawaba.com that “they have no information such a visit.”
The sources, who asked for anonymity, added that “President Assad and all Syrians consider Lebanon their second homeland, but the visit is out of question for the time being.”
On Sunday, Kuwaiti News Agency, (KUNA), reported that Assad was to visit Lebanon next week on the first leg of an Arab tour that would also take him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab capitals.
Quoting Lebanese government sources, KUNA said the visit would be an opportunity to prepare for the formation of the forthcoming government in Beirut, when the new parliamentary session opens on October 17th.
In an interview published last week in Beirut, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara said that this would be Assad's first visit outside Syria since he assumed the presidency, according to KUNA.
Bashar’s father, late Hafez Assad, did not visit Lebanon throughout his reign which lasted for 30 years.
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