Syria and Lebanon agreed yesterday 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.
A day after the countries’ presidents agreed to establish full diplomatic relations, the two men released a joint statement saying a joint committee would formally demarcate the border, which has been ill defined since the two countries became independent from French rule in the 1940s.
The agreements on diplomatic ties and the border are a victory for Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, who traveled to Syria on Wednesday in a landmark visit — the first by a Lebanese head of state to Syria in more than three years.
PHOTO: AFP
The border demarcation has long been a major demand of Lebanon’s anti-Syrian factions, along with diplomatic ties, as recognition by Syria of Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.
Opening diplomatic ties was another step which countries including France and the US had demanded of Syria, which dominated its neighbor until 2005 when the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri forced it to withdraw troops from Lebanon.
It was not clear when action would be taken on the agreements. No date was set for the opening of embassies or for work on the border to begin.
There have not been any official attempts to define the border.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said at a news conference yesterday that one disputed area under Israeli control would not be demarcated while it remains under Israeli occupation.
Israel seized the area, known as Chebaa Farms, from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. It is located where the borders of three countries meet. Lebanon and Syria claim it is Lebanese territory. But a UN-drawn border between Israel and Lebanon marks it as Syrian land under Israeli occupation.
The statement from the two presidents also said both sides agreed to review all bilateral agreements in an “objective” way.
Many Lebanese claim that political and economic agreements signed between the two countries during the 1990s were lopsided in Syria’s favor.
Syria controlled Lebanon for nearly 30 years, after sending its army in as peacekeepers during the 1975 to 1990 civil war.
Its direct hold was broken in 2005, when international pressure over the slaying of Hariri — blamed by many on Damascus — forced the troops to leave.
Even after the withdrawal, some Lebanese accused Damascus of trying to maintain its influence, saying it was encouraging Hezbollah to topple the Western-backed government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
They also accused Syria of being behind a string of assassinations of anti-Syria figures since 2005 to intimidate Beirut and destabilize the country.
Syria denies any role in the Hariri killing or the other attacks.
In their statement yesterday, Suleiman and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also pledged to intensify efforts to determine the fate of their citizens believed to be missing in each other’s countries.
International human rights groups say hundreds of Lebanese have been imprisoned in Syria since Damascus first sent troops into Lebanon in 1976.
The Syrian government says it freed the last of the prisoners nearly eight years ago.
Saad al-Hariri, Rafik al-Hariri’s son, welcomed the establishment of diplomatic ties, describing it as an accomplishment for the Lebanese people.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS