BEIRUT
(Reuters) – Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Friday world powers
must work with Damascus to create safe zones in Syria so refugees can
return to their country. It
was the first time the Beirut government had lent its support to such a
plan. At least a million people have fled the Syrian civil war since
2011 into Lebanon, which has an estimated total population of less than
six million. Lebanon
would not force unsafe return on any refugees, but the international
community must make their return possible, Aoun’s office quoted him as
saying in a meeting on Friday with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
Filippo Grandi.

He
said it was “important to achieve a political solution” to the
conflict. Aoun is an ally of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group which is fighting
in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad. U.S.
President Trump said last week he would “absolutely do safe zones in
Syria” for refugees fleeing violence and that Europe had made a mistake
by admitting millions of refugees.. According
to a document seen by Reuters, Trump is expected to order the Pentagon
and the State Department to craft such a plan, a move that could ratchet
up U.S. military involvement in Syria.

The
Syrian government said on Monday that any attempt to create so-called
safe zones for refugees without coordinating with Damascus would be
“unsafe” and violate Syria’s sovereignty.

Rebel
backers including Qatar have welcomed Trump’s support for safe zones,
and Turkey says it is waiting to see the outcome of the U.S. president’s
pledge.

Almost
six years of war has divided Syria into a patchwork of areas controlled
by Assad’s government, various rebel groups, Kurdish militia and
Islamic State militants.

The
conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people, made more than
half of Syrians homeless and created the world’s worst refugee crisis.

(Reporting by Ellen Francis; editing by Andrew Roche)