Assad meets Jamil al-Sayyed over border cooperation

Syrian President Bashar Assad held talks with Lebanon's Former Security Chief Jamil al-Sayyed over security issues near Lebanon borders. According to Sayyed's press office, during the meeting in Damascus the two discussed the "outcome of the government’s military operations in Syrian towns bordering Lebanon’s Akkar and the Bekaa", Al-Alam reported. The operation was aimed at "cleansing (the region) of terrorist organizations which would give the Lebanese Army the chance to efficiently control the border in coordination with the Syrian side after three years of chaos that have transformed the border areas into an open front against Syria". Syrian army forces have launched a military offensive to root out extremist militant groups in the Qalamoun region along Lebanon's border while the Lebanese Army began last month implementing a security plan to crackdown on car bombing rings and curb the infiltration of foreign-backed armed groups into Lebanon. Sayyed voiced support for the upcoming presidential election in Syria due to be held on June 3 and said the election is a domestic affair that can’t be disrupted by the ongoing charged war. "Developments in Syria are moving in two parallel directions: Addressing terrorism and takfiri terrorist groups and encouraging speedy national reconciliation in various towns and villages including those which have already begun in Zabadani and Jobar," Sayyed said, according to the statement. "The constitutional deadlines particularly the presidential election are a Syrian affair that cannot be disrupted by ongoing events, similar to elections in other countries such as Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, and Afghanistan," he added.