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After Years of US Demands, Syria Establishes Diplomatic Ties with Lebanon

Syria established diplomatic relations with Lebanon Tuesday, ending six decades of non-recognition of its neighbor’s sovereignty in an apparent bid to curry favor with the West as it pursues indirect peace talks with Israel.

The move by President Bashar Assad is part of his recent efforts to meet long-standing demands by the United States and Lebanon’s anti-Syrian politicians, who hope that normalizing Syrian-Lebanese relations will bolster regional stability.

Some experts say Syria is more comfortable dealing with Lebanon now that its ally Hezbollah has gained a veto power in the government. Lebanon also recently installed a president sympathetic to Syria.

A “diplomatic mission for the Syrian Arab Republic at the embassy level will be established in the Lebanese capital,” Assad said in a decree carried by the official Syrian news agency SANA.

Relations between the two Arab nations have been lopsided since the 1970s, when Syria sent its army into Lebanon and retained control for nearly 30 years. Ties unraveled when former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a 2005 car bombing that many Lebanese blame on Syria - a charge Syria denies.

Hariri’s assassination triggered massive anti-Syrian street protests and Damascus caved to U.S.-led international pressure and withdrew its tens of thousands of troops from Lebanon a few months after Hariri was killed.

But establishing diplomatic relations remained a pressing demand of the anti-Syrian majority in Lebanon’s parliament, which saw Syria’s refusal to do so as a refusal to recognize Lebanese sovereignty.

In addition to trying to improve relations with Lebanon, Assad has also recently sought indirect peace talks with Israel, mediated by Turkey, and says he wants direct talks next year.

Those moves could help Syrian aspirations to build trust with the West, which is slowly moving away from its isolation of Syria in recent years in favor of engaging the country in Mideast issues.

Lebanon and Syria have not had formal diplomatic ties since both gained independence from France in the 1940s.

In August, they agreed to establish ties and demarcate their contentious border. That landmark agreement, which came during an official visit by Lebanon’s president to Damascus and Assad’s formal decree Tuesday, mark the final break in Syria’s longtime dominance over its smaller neighbor.

Assad’s announcement did not say when the Syrian embassy in Beirut would open. But a Syrian Foreign Ministry official said it will happen before the end of the year.

Article by Albert Aji

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