Syria Today | Syrian FM meets Lebanese president

Syrian FM meets Lebanese president

Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allem handed Lebanese President Michel Suleiman an invitation from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on July 21, to visit Syria at any time he deems convenient.

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported the two sides also discussed bilateral relations and the current regional situation, without giving any further details.

During his visit, Mu’allem reiterated Syria’s intention to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time since in more than 60 years. “We are determined to open an embassy and to exchange diplomatic representation,” Mu’allem told a press conference in Beirut. “But this determination has to be shared.”

Mu’allem’s trip to Syria’s western neighbour comes in the wake of a conference of Mediterranean countries in Paris on July 13, during which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman agreed to open embassies in each other’s capitals.

“Our position is that there is no problem for opening embassies in Syria and Lebanon,” President Assad said during a press conference with his Lebanese, French and Qatari counterparts at the Paris conference. “If Lebanon is willing to exchange embassies, we have no objections to doing that.”

Syrian-Lebanese relations deteriorated following the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria was forced to pull out its 40,000 soldiers from its neighbor in the wake of the assassination.