Gemayel: ties will not be normal if Damascus 'does not change its mentality'
By Hussein Abdallah
Daily Star staff
Monday, August 18, 2008
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman told his visitors at the presidential palace Sunday that the recent Lebanese-Syrian summit, which was held in Damascus last week, was the first step toward establishing brotherly and friendly ties between the two countries. News reports on Sunday also quoted Sleiman as saying that decrees in Beirut and Damascus would be issued on Thursday to formally establish diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria.
Meanwhile, Premier Fouad Siniora was quoted as saying on Sunday that Lebanon was looking forward to completing steps toward establishing diplomatic ties with Syria within weeks.
Syria and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to open diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level in a step welcomed by the United States, which had long called on Damascus to formalize ties with Beirut.
"We will work on accomplishing it within the coming weeks," Siniora told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Sleiman instructed their foreign ministers to begin steps toward exchanging ambassadors during a summit in Damascus last week.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh told LBC television on Sunday that establishing diplomatic relations between Beirut and Damascus required a decision by the Syrian Parliament.
"Such a decision will be followed by some logistical measures which need to be taken by both countries in order to put the agreement into effect," he said.
Asked about the fate of Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails, Salloukh said that almost 100 Lebanese nationals were serving judicial sentences in Syrian jails.
"The ones we know about have committed criminal offenses in Syria," he said.
"We inquired about other people, and we are still waiting for a response from Syrian officials," he added.
The foreign minister also revealed that Syria has also handed over to Lebanon a list of Syrian people who it claims to be missing in Lebanon.
On Saturday, Salloukh told The Associated Press that diplomatic ties with Syria would be established within two months.
He said that the Cabinet would give its approval on the diplomatic ties on Thursday.
"Later, the Cabinet will issue a separate decree for an embassy in Syria," he added
The two countries also agreed to negotiate the demarcation of their border, a longtime demand of the Lebanese as they seek to normalize relations with their long-dominant larger neighbor.
Also on Saturday, Siniora contacted Sleiman to brief him about his recent visit to Cairo and deliver a message to the Lebanese president from his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, said a statement released by the Presidential Palace.
On Friday, Sleiman briefed the Cabinet on the outcome of his visit to Syria.
Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri said after a Cabinet session at the presidential palace that the governments of Lebanon and Syria would both approve the exchange of ambassadors this week.
"Then all that remains in front of us are procedural steps which the two Foreign ministries will be tasked with taking," he said.
Meanwhile, former President Amin Gemayel said on Saturday that Lebanon and Syria would not have normal relations if Damascus "does not change its mentality toward Lebanon."
"The Syrians do not need an embassy to operate in Lebanon ... They have their intelligence as well as their allies," Gemayel told Arabic weekly Al-Shiraa.
The former president added that the improvement of relations between Beirut and Damascus was also dependent on the fate of the international tribunal to try suspects in the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Also commenting on the recent Lebanese-Syrian summit, the head of the National Bloc Party and former MP Carlos Edde said that establishing diplomatic ties with Syria was a historic achievement for Lebanon.
However, Edde had harsher words regarding Syria's attitude on the issues of Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails and the demarcation of borders between Beirut and Damascus.
"Referring the issue of Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails to committees is equivalent to killing it ... We all know that forming committees will not help in resolving the issue," he said.
Edde also protested against excluding the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms from the border demarcation between the two neighboring countries.
"Demarcating borders in the Shebaa Farms area will help liberate the occupied territory, whereas excluding it aims at creating pretexts for Hizbullah to hold on to its arms," he said.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah's second in command, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said on Sunday that the upcoming national dialogue, which will be chaired by Sleiman, should not only deal with the issue of the country's defense strategy.
"We are not saying that to turn our back to discussing a defense strategy for Lebanon, but to say that there are other important issues which need to be discussed during national dialogue sessions," he said.
"We need to address economic and social issues, as well as ways to implement the decisions that were taken during earlier dialogue sessions," Qassem added.
In a separate development, Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddine al-Bashir arrived in Beirut on Sunday to deliver a message to Sleiman from Jordan's King Abdullah II.
Bashir, who was received by Salloukh and Jordanian Ambassador Ziyad al-Majali, told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport that his visit was aimed at discussing "bilateral and regional issues."
Asked to comment on the recent Lebanese-Syrian summit, the Jordanian minister said that Amman welcomed the outcome of the summit and hoped for "further progress" in Lebanese-Syrian relations.
Bashir is scheduled to meet on Monday with Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Siniora and Salloukh. - With agencies
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