Lebanese political leader and former head of the Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, expressed his desire on Sunday for Lebanese-Syrian relations to return to their "normal diplomatic origins" following the fall of the Baath Party rule this month.

This came during his meeting at the People's Palace in the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the leader of the new administration in Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, at the head of a delegation from Lebanon, according to what was reported by the Lebanese News Agency.

Jumblatt said: "We salute the Syrian people for their great victories, and we salute you for your battle that you waged to get rid of oppression and tyranny."

He continued: "The road is long, and we and you are suffering from Israeli expansion, and I will submit a memorandum in the name of the representatives of the "Democratic Gathering" parliamentary bloc regarding Lebanese-Syrian relations."

The leader, who belongs to the Druze sect, added: “We hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations will return to normal through diplomatic relations, and that all those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable. We hope that fair trials will be held for those who committed crimes against the Syrian people, and that some of the detention centers will remain museums of history.”

Jumblatt visits Syria after 13 years, accompanied by members of the Progressive Socialist Party and the Sheikh of the Druze community, Sami Abu Al-Mona.

On Thursday, Jumblatt announced that he would head to Damascus during his online meeting with representatives of the Council on Arab-American Relations, in which he said, “Stability in Syria is necessary for stability in Lebanon, and it needs an opportunity and help.”

On December 12, Jumblatt made a phone call to Sharaa, congratulating him and the Syrian people on the “victory over the oppressive regime,” making him the first prominent Lebanese figure to call Sharaa to congratulate him on the overthrow of the Assad regime, and the first to go to Damascus.

On December 8, Syrian factions took control of the capital Damascus and other cities before that, with the withdrawal of regime forces from public institutions and streets, thus ending a 61-year era of Baath Party rule and 53 years of Assad family rule.