Beirut opens embassy in Damascus

Lebanon opens an embassy in Damascus, Syria, for the first time Sunday. Syria dominated Lebanese politics for 30 years until the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces.Lebanon will open an embassy in Damascus for the first time Sunday under a 2008 agreement which followed years of international pressure on Syria to treat its smaller neighbour as a fully sovereign country. "The embassy will open from Sunday. We have appointed the acting charge d'affaires until the ambassador arrives in the first half of April," Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh told Reuters on Friday. Syria has in the past resisted establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon, saying the two countries had an especially close relationship. For much of history, rulers based in Syria controlled what is now Lebanon. 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 30 years until the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree in October to open diplomatic relations with Lebanon after a Lebanese political crisis ended in May and relations improved between Syria and the new Lebanese government. In December a Syrian flag was raised over the building that houses the Syrian embassy in Beirut. Three Syrian diplomats are posted there, but Damascus has yet to name an ambassador.