Syria moves ahead in recognizing Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The foreign minister of Syria reiterated on Monday that Syria intends to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon, for the first time since the two nations gained independence more than 60 years ago. "We are determined to open an embassy and to exchange diplomatic representation," Walid Muallem told reporters here. "But this determination has to be shared." Earlier this month, at a conference of Mediterranean countries in Paris, Presidents Bashar Assad of Syria and Michel Suleiman of Lebanon agreed to open embassies in each other's capital. That conference, orchestrated by President Nicholas Sarkozy of France, was seen as ending the diplomatic isolation of Syria that followed the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, in a car bomb. Muallem met on Monday with Suleiman and... [read full story]