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Syrian president orders to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-14 19:33

DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday issued a decree to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, the official Syrian News Agency reported.  

The decree orders the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon and the creation of a diplomatic mission at ambassador level in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, said the report.

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The decree would be enforced upon publishing, it added.

Bashar said early last month that his country and Lebanon are expected to appoint their ambassadors to each other's capital before the end of this year.

The two neighbors announced on August 13 that they agreed to normalize bilateral ties and demarcate their borders during Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's visit to Syria.

On Monday, US President George W. Bush urged Syria to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and open full diplomatic ties with Lebanon's government.

"We discussed the need for Syria to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, to cease its support for terror, and to open full diplomatic relations with Lebanon's elected government," Bush said.

The United States also has expressed concerns over Syria's troop movements along its border with Lebanon.

In late September, the Lebanese army said Syria has deployed around 10,000 special forces along the northern border with Lebanon, adding that Damascus stressed the move was linked to a crackdown on smugglers.

Syria and Lebanon failed to establish diplomatic relations since their independence from the French colonial rule in the 1940s. Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2005.