No Script

Please Wait...

Ramadan Kareem...

Moallem Visits Beirut Marking New Start for Relations

Moallem Visits Beirut Marking New Start for Relations
folder_openLebanon access_time15 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Source: Alalam.ir, 21-7-2008
BEIRUT--Visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said on Monday that Damascus was keen to open a new chapter in its relations with Lebanon and to delineate the border between both countries.
"Our relations today are on an equal footing," Moallem told a press conference after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on the first such visit by a high-ranking Syrian official in more than three years.
"There is a new consensus president (in Lebanon) who has trustworthy ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and this can help resolve a lot of outstanding issues," he added.
Lebanon and Syria said earlier this month that they had agreed to establish diplomatic relations and planned to open embassies in both capitals for the first time since independence from French colonial rule more than 60 years ago.
"After we spoke of an embassy, I don't know if you (Lebanese) want an embassy or not. We don't know what some in Lebanon want," Moallem said.
"We are determined to open an embassy and to exchange diplomatic representation, but this determination has to be shared."
Moallem during his hours-long visit handed an invitation to Suleiman from his Syrian counterpart to travel to Damascus, a trip the Lebanese press said would take place within a week or 10 days.
"We in Damascus are expecting the visit of President Michel Suleiman at the nearest opportunity," Moallem told reporters after meeting the Lebanese leader in Beirut.
The two men also discussed the issue of the "Israeli"-occupied Shibaa Farms, the delineation of the border between both countries and the fate of hundreds of Lebanese who vanished during Syria's rule in Lebanon.
"There is nothing to prevent the demarcation of the borders but we must take into account the fact that many Syrian and Lebanese villages are intertwined and whether this would harm residents," Moallem said.
"Still, if we must delineate the border, we are ready."
He added that placing the disputed Shibaa Farms in southern Lebanon under UN administration would in no way signify an end to "Israel's" occupation of that area.
The Shibaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of land rich in water resources measuring 25 square kilometers (10 square miles), are located at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and north of occupied Palestine.
"Israel" seized the Farms from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war when it captured the neighboring Golan Heights which it later annexed.
Ever since, the Farms have been caught in a tug-of-war over ownership. Lebanon claims them, with the backing of Damascus, while the Zionist regime says they are part of Syria.
On the missing Lebanese, Moallem said a committee set up to deal with the issue was advancing in its work but more time was needed before a final resolution.
"Those who have waited more than 30 years since the start of the (Lebanese) civil war can wait another few weeks," he said, referring to families of the disappeared and rights groups pressing for answers about their fate.
Syria withdrew its troops in 2005 in the aftermath of the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, ending a military presence of nearly three decades.
Syria denies it was behind the Beirut bomb blast that killed Hariri and has protested at plans for a UN tribunal to try suspects in the murder.
Suleiman was elected president and a new government formed under a May deal between the ruling majority and opposition to end a drawn-out political crisis.
The plans to establish ties were announced at a summit in France to launch a Mediterranean Union that was attended by Assad.
Franco-Syrian ties went into deep freeze after the murder of Hariri, who was a personal friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac.
In a further sign of improving ties, Sarkozy announced he would visit Damascus in September.

Comments