November 20, 2008
Lebanon's Cabinet endorses diplomatic ties with Syria
Syrian soldiers lean out of the windows of their bus at a crossing point on the Syrian-Lebanese border as they celebrate their return from Lebanon on April 26. Syria ended its 29-year military domination of Lebanon. (AP/Bassem Tellawi)
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) _ Lebanon's Cabinet has approved the establishment of diplomatic ties with Syria and the opening of a Lebanese embassy in Damascus.
Syria, which controlled its smaller neighbor for nearly 30 years until 2005, agreed earlier this month to open relations and demarcate the border for the first time since both countries gained independence from France in the 1940s. The moves met a long-standing Lebanese demand for Syria to recognize Lebanese independence.
Syria long resisted the ties and only agreed after a political compromise between Lebanon's feuding factions created a unity government where Syrian ally Hezbollah has considerable weight. Its assent also came after a figure seen as relatively friendly to Syria — Michel Suleiman — was installed as Lebanon's president.
Information Minister Tarek Mitri said after a Cabinet meeting late Thursday that Lebanon's foreign minister has been tasked with making arrangements for the embassy. He did not name a date for it to open.
On Friday, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora sent a letter of protest to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about what Lebanon perceived as recent Israeli threats. He urged Ban to inform the U.N. Security Council's member nations of the "seriousness of the Israeli threats," according to Saniora's office.
Lebanon's protest apparently refers to comments this week by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warning that if Hezbollah guerrillas attacked Israel again, it would hit back harder than in the 2006 war.
Olmert said Israel did not use all means to respond then, but "if Lebanon becomes a Hezbollah state, then we won't have any restrictions in this regard."
Saniora told Thursday's Cabinet meeting that "to hear what Israeli officials say, one would think Israel was showering Lebanon with roses during its last aggression."
More than 1,200 Lebanese — most of them civilians — were killed in the 2006 war, which began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid.
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