BEIRUT, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said he would help the government solve the case of missing Lebanese, local Elnashra website reported Saturday.

    "The Lebanese government is handling the file of missing Lebanese, and I will help as much as I can to solve this problem," Aoun said in a speech to Lebanese university students.

    Aoun, leader of Lebanese Christian majority bloc in parliament, is to visit Syria for the first time before the end of this year after more than three decades of animosity between the two sides.

    He said that the previous state of war with Syria was "an extraordinary state, any conflict with Syria or other states should have an end," adding that "it is getting back to normal today."

    Hundreds of Lebanese are reportedly missing in Syrian jails during the period of Syria's military presence in Lebanon from 1976 to 2005.

    Aoun was Syria's main foe in 1989 when he was heading the transition government to fight for Lebanon's liberation against Syrian occupation.

    On Oct. 13, 1990, a Syrian air raid on the Lebanese presidential palace ousted Aoun, sending him a 15-year exile in France.

    He returned to Lebanon after Syria withdrew its forces in 2005 in the aftermath of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

    Syria and Lebanon formally launched diplomatic ties on Oct. 15 this year for the first time since their independence from the French colonial rule in the 1940s.