Syria wants new chapter in ties with Lebanon

BEIRUT  - Visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem 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,” Muallem told a press conference after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman 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 oustanding 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.
Muallem during his hours-long visit handed an invitation to Sleiman from his Syrian counterpart to travel to Damascus, a trip the Lebanese press said would take place within a week or 10 days.
The two men also discussed the issue of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa 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,” Muallem said.
“Still, if we must delineate the border, we are ready.”
He added that placing the disputed Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon under UN administration would in no way signify an end to Israel’s occupation of that area.
The Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of land rich in water resources measuring 25 square kilometres, are located at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and northern Israel.