Lebanese embassy opens in Damascus

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Lebanon opened an embassy in Damascus for the first time on Monday, after international pressure on Syria to establish diplomatic ties and treat its smaller neighbor as a full sovereign country.

"The embassy demonstrates the strong and historic relationship between Lebanon and Syria and the desire of the Syrian leadership to deepen ties further," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal al-Mekdad said on a courtesy visit.

The opening coincided with a visit by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to France, which has been urging the two countries to exchange embassies and embarked on a rapprochement with Damascus, partly to seek Syrian cooperation in stabilizing Lebanon.

The Lebanese flag was raised on the premises in the center of Damascus and the embassy is now staffed with Charge d'Affaires Rami Mortada.

The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since Britain and France carved them out of the remnants of the old Ottoman Empire in 1920.

Syria, which withdrew its forces from Lebanon after a 29 year presence in 2005, opened an embassy in Beirut last year but has not named an ambassador. Lebanon has named Michel Khoury as its ambassador.

Mekdad said that Syria reserved the right to name an ambassador at its convenience without foreign interference.

"We hope the appointment would come at the earliest chance," he said.

COMPLICATED BORDERS

The Syrian official said that Damascus also intended to make progress on demarcating the border with Lebanon, which has been another point of contention between Syria and Western backers of the Beirut government.

Mekdad said Syria was finalizing demarcation of its border with Jordan and Syrian experts will turn their attention to Lebanon afterwards. "This process has not stopped historically. It will continue accurately," he said.

A Western diplomat in the Syrian capital said opening the embassy puts the onus on Syria to name an ambassador to Lebanon and could help the two countries find solutions to the border demarcation issue.

"It is more than a symbolic step," he said. "Relations would now have to go through official diplomatic channels, at least partially."

The Damascus government has in the past resisted establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon, saying the two countries had a close relationship and a shared history.

But Syria's critics, including France and the United States, said that, by resisting normal diplomatic relations with Lebanon, Syria was trying to undermine its sovereignty.

Syria dominated Lebanese politics for almost 30 years until the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which led to popular protests and the eventual withdrawal of Syrian forces.

Anti-Syrian politicians, including Hariri's son, Saad, have blamed Damascus for the killing of Hariri. A United Nations investigation implicated high-level Lebanese and Syrian security officials in the incident but Syria denies involvement.

(Editing by Dominic Evans)