Syria and Lebanon to Establish Diplomatic Relations

Syria and Lebanon are to establish diplomatic relations for the first time ever, putting ties between the neighbors on a more equal basis ? and helping Damascus emerge from its regional isolation.

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has issued a decree paving the way for the dispatch of an ambassador to Beirut, the official Sana news agency reported. Lebanon's foreign minister is due in Damascus tomorrow to agree a date.

The two countries have not had normal diplomatic ties since they gained their independence from France over 60 years ago, with Syria seeing Lebanon as part of its historic territory. Damascus has been by far the dominant side in their relationship since 1976, when its "peacekeeping" troops intervened in Lebanon's civil war and retained firm control for nearly 30 years.

The assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005 ? which was widely blamed on Syrian agents though denied by Damacsus ? led to international pressure and street protests that forced Syria to withdraw its forces. Lebanon's anti-Syrian factions have also blamed Damascus for a series of attacks targeting its enemies.

Lebanese politicians from the majority, western-backed March 14 camp welcomed the news but called on Syria to move swiftly to a final demarcation of the border between the two countries.

"It's a positive move and the start of a process of building healthy relations between our brotherly countries," said Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist party, who has been bitterly hostile to Damascus in the past.

Assad has been under pressure from the US and its allies over his close relations with Iran and support for the Lebanese Shia movement Hizbullah and the Islamists of Hamas in the Palestinian territories. Yesterday George Bush warned Syria to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and urged it to establish full diplomatic ties with Beirut.

Tensions have risen in recent weeks after thousands of Syrian troops were deployed close to the Lebanese border, though Syria insisted they were only there to prevent smuggling.

Some of the credit for the Syrian shift goes to Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who reversed the policy of his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, and worked to coax Assad in from the cold. Sarkozy invited Assad to an EU summit in Paris and then visited Damascus. Between those two events Lebanon's new president, Michel Suleiman, went on a first ever state visit to Damascus and forged the agreement to establish formal relations.

But Syria only went ahead after the formation of a new Lebanese coalition government that gave its Hizbullah ally and other pro-Syrian groups a big say in Lebanese decision-making.

"Whether this is a PR move or not Syria's recognition does now become a legal reality," said Timur Goksel, a former UN official and now lecturer at Beirut's American University. "The fact that Lebanon is formally acknowledged is very significant. It's on paper. Assad has read the mood in Lebanon ? that there can be no going back to the old days. And he's trying to look good internationally."

Other analysts doubted how much difference the move would make. "The Syrians are making concessions that look like they are complying with the demands of the international community," said Nadim Shehadi, a Middle East expert at London's Chatham House. "It will make some difference but it's basically a PR exercise that will help the process of Syria's rehabilitation."

The two countries signed a "brotherhood" agreement in 1991, which anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians say is skewed heavily in Syria's favor and implemented by a "Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council Council" that deals with bilateral issues.