Cairo, Jan 5 (IANS): Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held phone talks with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib, during which they urged a political transition in Syria free from foreign interference.

The two ministers emphasised the importance of supporting the will of the Syrian people, preserving Syria's resources, unity, and territorial integrity, as well as the necessity of a purely Syrian-led political transition process "without foreign dictations," said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement.

In the phone talks, the two sides also discussed the need for presidential elections in Lebanon, a country that has been without a president since early November 2022 due to political division in the parliament, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Egyptian ministry.

Abdelatty stressed the importance of reaching a national consensus to end the presidential vacuum in Lebanon "without any foreign interference," it said.

The phone talks came hours after Egypt dispatched its first relief plane to Syria after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in early December 2024.

Earlier Egypt dispatched a relief plane to Syria's capital Damascus, the first since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government early last month.

The EgyptAir civilian plane carried 15 tonnes of humanitarian assistance, including food and medicine, provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The charge d'affaires of the Egyptian embassy in Damascus received the aid at the airport, the statement added.

The aid is part of Egypt's efforts to support the Syrian people, given the two countries' historical ties.