Date: Aug 23, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Aoun, Assad discuss refugee crisis in phone call: report BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun phoned his Syrian counterpart to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis, a local daily reported Tuesday. “Aoun recently called Syrian President Bashar Assad and they discussed the issue of Syrian refugees and ways to accelerate their return to their homes,” Al-Akhbar published. A source from Baabda Palace could not confirm the news. In the same article, the daily reported that Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun spoke to the Syrian army’s chief-of-staff and defense minister to congratulate them on Syria’s Army Day, which fell on Aug. 1. “The security coordination between the two countries was discussed, [as well as] the work of the [Lebanese-Syrian] security coordination office, which is working continuously in the fields of border control and security at the borders of both countries,” Al-Akhbar reported.