Lebanon opens its first ever embassy in Syria

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Lebanon on Monday opened its first-ever embassy in Syria in another sign of improving ties between the long-feuding neighbors. The opening of embassies in Beirut and Damascus sealed the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two countries for the first time since they gained independence from France in the 1940s. Syria opened an embassy in Beirut in December. Relations between the long-feuding neighbors reached a turning point in August when the two agreed to establish ties and demarcate their contentious border. The agreement marked a final break in Syria's longtime dominance over its smaller neighbor. Diplomatic ties with Syria has been a pressing demand by Lebanon's anti-Syrian factions, the United States and other Western countries.