Syria-Lebanon Relations Improving

Lebanese president Michel Suleiman’s visit to Damascus was a sign that Syrian-Lebanese relations are improving, the Syrian media reported last week.



Isam Dari, editor-in-chief of the state-run Tishreen newspaper, wrote in an editorial on August 16 arguing that Suleiman’s meetings with Syrian officials in Damascus stabilised Lebanon and Syrian relations. Syria and Lebanon will now be able to tackle their issues with “harmony and understanding”, wrote Dari.



Suleiman made his first visit to Damascus as Lebanon’s head of state on August 13 and 14. He and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad discussed a host of issues, including exchanging ambassadors, increasing trade ties and agreeing to investigate cases of missing Lebanese in Syria and missing Syrians in Lebanon.



Dari also claimed that the summit was deliberately held on the second anniversary of Hezbollah’s defeat of Israel, which battled with the Syrian-backed Lebanese Shia militia in August 2006.



The meeting between Suleiman and Assad also proved that Lebanon is now independent of Syria, wrote Al-Thawra editor-in-chief Asad Abud in an editorial on August 15.



Western nations and some Lebanese leaders have demanded that Syria, which controlled politics and security in Lebanon after the civil war in the 1990s, needs to recognise Lebanon’s autonomy.



The writer acknowledged that Syria and Lebanon still have many issues to work out, maintaining that the problems will be resolved if both countries and their leaders are committed.



Syria continues to reject any international pressure – “from Washington or anyone else” – regarding its relationship with Lebanon, claimed Abud.



The Damascus Declaration, Syria’s leading opposition movement, welcomed Suleiman’s visit in an editorial published on its website on August 15.



The movement also called for the release of prisoners who were arrested after signing the Beirut-Damascus Declaration in 2006 – which called for Syria to recognise Lebanon’s autonomy by demarcating the border between the two countries and formally establishing diplomatic relations.