Jumblatt welcomes Syrian-Lebanon diplomatic ties (Roundup)

Oct 14, 2008, 14:48 GMT

Beirut - Druze anti-Syrian leader and head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt Tuesday welcomed as 'positive' a Syrian presidential decree establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon.

Jumblatt said: 'this is the first step on a long path leading toward a healthy relationship with Syria. We are still waiting for the Syrians to demarcate the border with Lebanon as well.'

Jumblatt was quoted as saying the decree appeared connected to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's two-day visit to Damascus last month.

Sarkozy's trip to Syria was the first by a French president since Jacques Chirac severed diplomatic ties, following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

Earlier, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a resolution to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon and open a Syrian embassy in Lebanon, a Lebanese government source confirmed.

The source said Lebanon's Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh was due to visit Damascus on Wednesday to discuss 'steps to be taken' in this regard between the two neigbouring countries.

Assad did not specify an exact date for the embassy's opening in Beirut, al-Arabia television channel reported.

Syria, during a visit by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman last month, said it was ready to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon for the first time since independence from France more than 60 years ago.

Following the 2005 Hariri assassination, Damascus was forced under US-led international pressure to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending nearly three decades of control of Lebanon.

Besides blaming Syria for Hariri's death, anti-Syrian factions in Lebanon have also blamed Damascus for a subsequent series of assassinations targeting lawmakers and politicians opposed to Syria.

Syria has denied involvement in any of these killings, including that of Hariri.

Syria and Lebanon have not had full-fledged embassies in each other's capitals since Lebanon became independent in 1943 and Syria in 1945.