Sulaiman and Assad agree to exchange embassies between Lebanon and Syria

Leaders also plan mutual visits to each other's capitals

By Hussein Abdallah
Daily Star staff
Monday, July 14, 2008

BEIRUT: Lebanese and Syrian presidents Michel Sulaiman and Bashar Assad exchanged visits in Paris over the weekend as Lebanon and Syria agreed on opening embassies in each others' capitals for the first time since their independence from colonial rule. The two leaders were in Paris to participate in the Mediterranean Union summit.

Sulaiman, accompanied by Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Lebanese Ambassador to Paris Butros Asaker, and other members of the Lebanese delegation, held a 50-minute meeting with Assad at his private suite in the Intercontinental Le Grand Hotel in the presence of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and other members of the Syrian delegation.

A statement released by Sulaiman's office Sunday said the two leaders discussed bilateral ties, namely the measures that needed to be taken to establish diplomatic ties between the two neighboring states.

It added that Sulaiman and Assad agreed on exchanging visits to Beirut and Damascus in a bid to further discuss the establishment of diplomatic ties as well as other bilateral issues.

Moallem will soon visit Beirut to deliver an invitation for Sulaiman to visit Damascus, the statement added.

At a new conference that followed the meeting, Assad said the establishment of diplomatic ties would be announced both from Beirut and Damascus.

"When President Sulaiman visits Damascus, we will announce it from there and the same will happen when I visit Beirut," Assad told reporters.

Sulaiman confirmed that he was planning to visit Syria, but did not specify a date.

"We are not normalizing relations with Syria ... We already have normal relations and establishing diplomatic ties will further develop the existing relations," he added.

Asked whether Premier Fouad Siniora would attend the expected meeting with Assad, Sulaiman said the invitation to visit Damascus would only be delivered to the president.

Sulaiman also told reporters that he was planning to discuss the status of the Israeli-occupied Sheba'a Farms during his expected visit to Syria.

Both Lebanon and Syria have repeatedly said the territory was Lebanese, but the UN has requested that both states demarcate border in order to officially determine the Farms' identity.

When asked how Lebanon planned to liberate the Sheba'a Farms, Sulaiman said Lebanon would resort to military means if diplomatic procedures failed to achieve the desired goal.

"We will try to liberate the occupied territory through diplomatic means, namely through the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1707, but if such means fail, we will resort to military operations," he said.

For his part, Assad confirmed that Mo'allem would soon visit Beirut to formally invite Sulaiman to visit Damascus.

Asked if Lebanon would have any role in the indirect peace negotiations between Syria and Israel, Assad said all the details of such negotiations would be discussed between Lebanon and Syria, adding that Lebanon would undoubtedly have a major role in the peace process.

Separately, a statement from Sulaiman's information office said the two leaders had also discussed the issue of Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails.

The statement said Assad promised Sulaiman to work on resolving this issue.

Although many Lebanese families claim they have relatives in Syrian jails, Damascus has repeatedly denied such claims.

Later on Sunday, Sulaiman met with UN chief Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Union summit.

After the meeting, Sulaiman thanked Ban for all his efforts to help Lebanon.

"As we draw closer to the expected prisoner swap between Lebanon and Israel, I would like to thank the UN for its efforts to facilitate such a swap as well as its past efforts to end the July war of 2006," Sulaiman said, referring to the 34-day conflict between Lebanon and Israel.

Lebanon's Hizbullah is expected to exchange prisoners with Israel Wednesday.

Sulaiman also said he had discussed with Ban the implementation of Resolution 1701, namely the efforts being made to resolve the Sheba'a Farms issue.

"I am positive that the process by which the Sheba'a Farms will be returned to Lebanese sovereignty has already kicked off," Sulaiman said.

For his part, Ban told reporters that he was optimistic about the situation in Lebanon following the election of Sulaiman and the formation of a national unity government.

Ban promised to intensify his efforts to reach a solution for the Sheba'a Farms issue.

On Lebanese-Syrian relations, the UN chief said both Assad and Sulaiman have vowed to work on establishing diplomatic ties between their countries.

On the international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, Ban expressed hope that the tribunal would convene soon, but did not specify a date.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the landmark decision Saturday after talks with Assad and Sulaiman.

"For France, this is historic progress," Sarkozy said at a press conference. "Of course there are a number of legal questions that have to be settled ... but for us ... this announcement is absolutely historic."

Assad and Sulaiman confirmed the news at a joint press conference later on Saturday.

Sulaiman said the two governments were going to "work together to put everything in motion as soon as possible."

The Lebanese president added that he had discussed with Assad the establishment of diplomatic relations as well as the demarcation of borders between Lebanon and Syria.

For his part, Assad said Syria did not mind establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon.

"Some in Lebanon claim not establishing such ties means that Syria does not recognize Lebanon ... I would like to say Syria has no diplomatic representation in 130 countries around the world ... Does this necessarily mean Syria does not recognize such states?" he asked.

"Our position is that there is no problem for the opening of embassies between Syria and Lebanon ... If Lebanon is willing to exchange embassies, we have no objections," he added.

The Syrian and Lebanese leaders met at the French presidential palace in the presence of Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, whose country brokered the power-sharing deal that led to Sulaiman's election.

Immediately after Sarkozy announced the diplomatic breakthrough between Lebanon and Syria, he said he would be visiting Damascus in September, taking a further step in ending Syria's diplomatic isolation.

Franco-Syrian ties went into a deep freeze after the 2005 assassination of Hariri, who was a personal friend of Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac.

Chirac cut off all high-level contacts with Syria after repeatedly accusing it of having a hand in the killing, a charge Damascus has consistently denied.

After Sulaiman's election, Sarkozy moved to reward Assad by renewing high-level contacts.

Meanwhile, Sulaiman on Sunday gave a speech at the Mediterranean Union summit, highlighting the importance of reaching a comprehensive settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"The continuing postponement of solution-finding processes to the Middle East crisis had made the clashes the main reason for instability in the region, which threatens stability in the Mediterranean and the world," Sulaiman said.

The president called for building a culture of mutual respect, stressing that Lebanon's message was to struggle for freedom and social justice.

"Lebanon's message was, and is until now, to struggle for the spaces of freedom to be bigger, the social injustice to decrease and the dignity of everybody to be restored."

"Let us build together a culture of mutual respect, for a harmonious Mediterranean society," he added.

Sulaiman called for paying attention to environmental issues as well as for education.

"It is time to reconcile the man and his environment ... let us be committed to make education a priority."

"Our destinies are interlinked, and no country can pretend to be able to confront alone all the challenges of this century. This is the message of Lebanon and this is, I think, our common aspiration in this summit," Sulaiman said. - With AFP

West hails agreement to establish regular diplomatic ties

BEIRUT: The European Union welcomed Sunday the resumption of diplomatic ties between Syria and Lebanon as an important step that would help improve stability.

"It's very positive, it's a step that is going to help stabilize the situation, not only in Lebanon but throughout the region," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana's spokeswoman said.

"It is very important," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters in Paris.

"We finally have a president in Lebanon, and we have seen the formation of a government, and now one of the steps that was indeed not yet there was the question of having bilateral diplomatic relations," she said.

Meanwhile, Britain, Germany and the US late Saturday welcomed a decision by Lebanon and Syria to open diplomatic ties, but the Washington urged Damascus to end its "destabilizing tactics" in the region.

"We continue to support the establishment of good relations between Lebanon and Syria on the basis of mutual respect and we join with France in reiterating the commitment to a sovereign and independent Lebanon," Rob McInturff, a State Department spokesman, told AFP.

But he added that Washington would "continue to limit our diplomatic engagement unless Syria takes concrete actions to end its destabilizing tactics in the region."

The State Department said Syria was "showing it is eager to engage with the international community."

McInturff said the United States and other Lebanon watchers "were waiting for a signal that the Syrians are ready to renounce their sponsorship of terrorism, to do more to end the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq, to expel the leadership of Palestinian terrorist groups, and to end human-rights violations."

In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP: "If it means that Syria is going to play a more constructive role in the region, that can only be a good thing."

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Milband on Friday welcomed the formation of the national unity government in Lebanon, saying it was a "vital step forward" toward the implementation of the Doha agreement struck in May.

Praising the Lebanese prime minister and president, he said they and the country had Britain's "full support in tackling the important political, security and economic challenges that lie ahead."

Britain broke off diplomatic ties with Syria in 1986, but restored them in 1990.

However, London remains concerned about Damascus' role in Lebanon, particularly its connection with Hizbullah.

German European Affairs Minister Guenter Gloser welcomed the two countries' decision to establish ties as "considerable progress."

"It shows Syria's change of perspective and contributes to stability in the region," he added - AFP

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