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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria appoints first ambassador to Lebanon |
| 2009-03-25 |
| BEIRUT - Syria has appointed its first ambassador to Lebanon and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman accepted his diplomatic accreditation on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency. The Lebanese presidency named the diplomat as Ali Abdul Karim Ali. Lebanon last week opened its first embassy in Damascus and has named its ambassador as Michel Khoury. Syria had opened its Beirut embassy last year. Syria has faced international pressure to establish formal diplomatic ties with Lebanon, which had been dominated for decades by its larger neighbour until the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Establishment of formal relations had been a central demand of anti-Syrian Lebanese factions that won an election in 2005 following the Hariri killing and the withdrawal of Syrian troops who had first entered Lebanon in 1976. |
| Posted by:Steve White |