The Assyrian Democratic Organization
BEIRUT, Lebanon – The New York Times — The foreign minister of Syria reiterated on Monday that Syria intends to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon, for the first time since the two nations gained independence more than 60 years ago.
“We are determined to open an embassy and to exchange diplomatic representation,” Walid Muallem told reporters here. “But this determination has to be shared.” Earlier this month, at a conference of Mediterranean countries in Paris, Presidents Bashar Assad of Syria and Michel Suleiman of Lebanon agreed to open embassies in each other’s capital.
That conference, orchestrated by President Nicholas Sarkozy of France, was seen as ending the diplomatic isolation of Syria that followed the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, in a car bomb. Mr. Muallem met on Monday with Mr. Suleiman and invited him to visit Damascus. The visit would be the first by a Lebanese official in more than three years. The Lebanese press said the trip would take place in a week or 10 days, Agence France-Presse reported.
Syria has dominated Lebanon for decades and regarded it as a Syrian province. It has so far refused to agree on an exact border with its neighbor. Mr. Muallem said that Mr. Assad considered Mr. Suleiman trustworthy, which he said bode well for resolving outstanding issues. On July 11 Lebanon agreed on a new cabinet that greatly strengthened the Hezbollah-led opposition, effectively giving it veto power in a national unity government.
Hezbollah is strongly supported by Syria. Mr. Muallem said a joint Lebanese-Syrian investigation would shortly resume into the disappearance of hundreds of Lebanese during Lebanon’s long civil war, after being detained by Syrian troops. That conflict ended in 1990. Relatives of the missing contend they are imprisoned in Syria, which Syrian has denied.
On Monday, some family members demonstrated along the road from the airport to the presidential palace to protest Mr. Muallem’s visit
