Syria and Lebanon are establishing diplomatic relations for the first time, putting ties between the neighbours on a more equal footing — and helping Damascus emerge from its regional isolation.
Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, issued a decree this week paving the way for the unprecedented despatch of an ambassador to Beirut, the official Sana news agency reported. Lebanon’s foreign minister was due in Damascus on Thursday to agree a date for the move.
The two countries have not had normal diplomatic ties — which imply full mutual recognition — since they gained their independence from France more than 60 years ago. Damascus has been by far the dominant side since 1976 when its ”peacekeeping” forces intervened in Lebanon’s civil war and kept control for nearly 30 years.
The assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005 — which was widely blamed on Syrian agents but denied by Damascus — gave rise to international pressure and street protests that led to all Syrian forces being withdrawn. Lebanon’s anti-Syrian factions have also blamed Damascus for a series of attacks targeting its enemies.
Lebanese politicians from the majority, Western-backed March 14 alliance welcomed the news but called on Syria to move swiftly towards a final demarcation of the border between the two countries.
”This is the first step on a long path leading toward a healthy relationship between our brotherly countries,” said Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist party, who has been bitterly hostile to Damascus in the past.
Although Syria’s decision has been welcomed publicly, it is being ”treated with scepticism privately”, said Nadim Shehadi, a Middle East expert at Chatham House, the international affairs think tank.
Assad has been under pressure from the United States and its allies over his close relations with Iran and support for Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. On Monday George W Bush warned Syria to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and urged it to establish full diplomatic ties with Beirut.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks after thousands of Syrian troops were deployed close to the Lebanese border, although Syria insisted they were only there to prevent smuggling.
Some of the credit for the Syrian shift goes to France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy, who has worked to coax Assad in from the cold, inviting him to a European Union summit in Paris and then visiting Damascus.
Between those events Lebanon’s new President, Michel Suleiman, went on a first-ever state visit to Damascus and forged the agreement to establish relations.
However, Assad only went ahead after the formation of Lebanon’s new coalition government gave Hizbullah and other pro-Syrian groups a big say in Lebanese decision-making. ”Whether this is a PR move or not, Syria’s recognition does now become a legal reality,” said Timur Goksel, a former United Nations official and now lecturer at the American University of Beirut.
But other analysts doubted how much difference the move would make. ”The Syrians are making concessions that look like they are complying with the demands of the international community,” said Shehadi. ”It will make some difference but it’s basically a PR exercise that will help the process of Syria’s rehabilitation.”
Backstory
Lebanon and Syria were carved out of the ruins of the Ottoman empire in 1920 and placed under French mandate. ”Greater Syria” encompassed both modern countries as well as an autonomous region for the Maronite Christians. For economic viability, the French combined that with the mainly Muslim Bekaa Valley and the coastal cities.
Lebanon won independence in 1943 and Syria, which had a Sunni Muslim majority, did so in 1945. For Damascus, Lebanon was seen as an artificial entity and, until now, Syria has refused to formally demarcate the border or agree to diplomatic relations. Syria views Lebanon as its ”soft underbelly”, and vulnerable to attack by Israel — one of the reasons it backs Hizbullah. —