BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will meet Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Saturday, two Lebanese sources said, becoming the first head of government to visit Syria's capital since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus on Saturday in a bid to improve long-fraught ties, with the pair focusing on strengthening their shared border.

The visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati was the first official trip by the Lebanese leader to meet with the new government of Syria.

Najib Mikati’s visit, the first in 15 years, comes amid pressure in Lebanon to release Islamists imprisoned during the civil war and just after the election of President Joseph Aoun.

Najib Mikati will visit Damascus on Syria’s new administration leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's invitation - Anadolu Ajansı

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Damascus Saturday in the first such visit since before civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, an AFP journalist reported.

Syria's new ruler and Lebanon's prime minister pledged Saturday to build lasting ties during the first visit by a Lebanese head of government to Damascus since the civil war started in 2011. Prime Minister Najib Mikati's trip came after Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus last month,