Syria approves first Lebanese ambassador to Damascus

BEIRUT (AFP) – Syria has approved the nomination of Michel el-Khoury as Lebanon's first ever ambassador to Damascus, Lebanon's foreign minister announced on Tuesday.

"I have received a letter from Syria's interim charge d'affaires in Beirut indicating that Syrian authorities have agreed to Khoury's nomination as Lebanese ambassador to Syria," Fawzi Salloukh told reporters.

He said Damascus has yet to submit the name of its candidate as ambassador to Beirut.

Three Syrian diplomats have been stationed at their country's embassy in Lebanon since last December but the mission is not yet fully operational.

Khoury, 59, a career diplomat, is currently Lebanon's ambassador to Cyprus. He was previously ambassador to The Hague and held top diplomatic posts in several countries including Britain, Brazil, and Mexico.

Syria and Lebanon in October formally established diplomatic ties for the first time since both became independent 60 years ago.

The thaw between the two neighbors came following a joint pledge by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese opposite number Michel Sleiman in Paris.

It turned a page in relations between Lebanon and Syria, which dominated its smaller neighbor for nearly three decades until it pulled its troops out in April 2005.

The withdrawal came two months after the Beirut killing of Lebanon's former premier Rafiq Hariri. Damascus was widely blamed for the assassination as well as that of other anti-Syrian politicians, but has denied any involvement.

Since 1991, a year after the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war, Damascus and Beirut have been tied by a treaty of friendship and cooperation.

But the anti-Syrian camp which forms the majority in Lebanon's parliament has long been critical of the treaty, saying it sacrifices Beirut's interests, and is pressing for it to be revoked.

Another sore point between the two countries that has yet to be resolved is the fate of Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails. The demarcation of their common border has also yet to be settled.