Suleiman: Lebanon likely sets diplomatic ties with Syria before year-end
18/9/2008 18:00
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman yesterday said that Beirut and Damascus
were likely to exchange ambassadors by the end of 2008, local Daily Star
reported today.
Suleiman's remarks came during a meeting with a delegation
from the French-Lebanese Friendship committee at the presidential palace, in the
presence of French ambassador to Lebanon Andre Parrant.
The President praised
the French role in improving relations between Lebanon and Syria.
French
President Nicola Sarkouzi sponsored a meeting between Syrian and Lebanese
presidents in Paris earlier this summer. During the meeting, the two leaders
announced to establish diplomatic ties between their countries for the first
time since their independence from the French colonial rule in the
1940s.
Meanwhile, the president said, "France had played a major role in
helping Lebanon out of its 18-month political crisis."
Bilateral ties between
Syria and Lebanon had been chilled since the assassination of former Lebanese
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, which many blamed Damascus for
being behind, but Syria denied any role.
Xinhua
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