BEIRUT — Lebanon’s cabinet voted Tuesday to deport to the United Arab Emirates an Egyptian activist and poet detained by Lebanese security forces after crossing the porous border from Syria last month.

Jordan has cautiously followed the emergence of Syria's de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, from the ranks of jihad fighters to a statesman. Amman is increasingly concerned that the Muslim Brotherhood could exploit the rise of Islamists in Syria to sow chaos in Jordan,

The Islamist takeover of Syria has left Egypt apprehensive and cautiously calibrating future ties, years after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power

The fall of Assad in Syria will be complex for Jordan. The victory of HTS may empower local Islamists while reopening trade will boost its economy. Jordan must work closely with Syria’s new leaders to address the challenges ahead.

It is naive to assume that the current regime in Syria will remain in place — as it is — going forward. Syria is now in a state of uneasy transition and the political-military situation will remain in flux as long as the conflicts between the various armed and civic groups are not resolved.

The two Mideast powerhouses have been trying to block the rise of Islamist groups in the region for two decades. The rebel takeover in Damascus will test that approach.

Analysis: After decades of fraught ties shaped by conflict and occupation, will Assad's fall lead to a new era of stability between Lebanon and Syria?

Syria's de facto leader has said it could take up to four years to hold elections in Syria, and that he plans on dissolving his Islamist group that led the country's insurgency at an anticipated national dialogue summit for the country.

Al-Qaradawi's legal troubles stem from a 2017 conviction in Egypt. Lebanese authorities interrogated him about this verdict and an extradition request from the UAE. His arrest followed a widely shared video where he criticised authorities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt while walking around Damascus' Umayyad Mosque.

Qardawi, an Egyptian-Turkish poet, was detained in Lebanon on Dec. 28 after returning from Syria, according to his lawyer Mohammad Sablouh.

The Islamist takeover of Syria has left Egypt apprehensive and cautiously calibrating future ties, years after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power by toppling the Muslim Brotherhood.

Syria has been a work in progress, a nation to be rebuilt, since the downfall of its autocratic president, Bashar al-Assad, a month ago. It is far too early to ascertain in what political direction Syria is heading, but if the past is any guide, Syrians should not expect their country to become a Jeffersonian democracy.