Region | Lebanon
Damascus determined to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon
Syria's foreign minister said on Monday his country was determined to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time since the two neighbuors gained independence from France more than 60 years ago.
- Agencies
- Published: 13:49 July 21, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- A woman gestures as she holds a picture of her relatives at a rally demanding the release of Lebanese in Syrian prisons.
Beirut: Syria's foreign minister said on Monday his country was determined to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time since the two neighbuors gained independence from France more than 60 years ago.
Visiting Foreign Minister Walid Al Moallem made the announcement after talks with President Michel Sulaiman on relations between the two Arab nations.
Al Moallem's visit to Beirut, the first by a top Syrian official in at least three years, came amid growing calls on Damascus to establish diplomatic relations and demarcate its border with Lebanon.
“We are determined to open an embassy and exchange diplomatic representation. But this determination should be shared by the two countries,'' Al Moallem said after meeting Sulaiman.
Talk of embassies marks an important shift in relations between Syria and Lebanon. Syria and Lebanon have not had full-fledged embassies in each other's capitals since Lebanon became independent in 1943 and Syria in 1945.
The US-backed anti-Syrian parliament majority is demanding the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian borders and the establishment of diplomatic ties as a guarantee of Syrian recognition of Lebanon as a sovereign nation.
Al Moallem also handed Sulaiman an invitation from Syrian President Bashar Assad to visit Damascus.
Ties between Syria and Lebanon have been strained since the 2005 assassination in a car bomb of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Al Hariri, which many Lebanese blame on Syria.
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