DAMASCUS, March 16 (RIA Novosti) - Lebanon officially
opened its embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Monday
for the first time since the countries gained independence in
the 1940s, a RIA Novosti correspondent said.
The new Lebanese Ambassador to Syria Michel el-Khoury, the
former envoy to Cyprus, will arrive in Damascus in the first
half of April, until then foreign ministry aide, Rami Murtada,
will head the diplomatic office.
Three diplomats have been working in the Syrian embassy in
Beirut since December 2008 after the two countries' leaders
agreed to establish diplomatic relations. Syria has yet to name
its ambassador to Beirut.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese
counterpart Michel Suleiman in Paris last July pledged to
improve relations between the two Arab countries.
Syria for decades dominated Lebanon, before finally
pulling its troops from the neighboring country in April 2005.
This came just two months after the assassination of the former
Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri in a Beirut bombing. Damascus has
denied any involvement in the assassination.
News
