Lebanon and Syria Chose Embassy Venues
Lebanon has decided to set up embassy in Damascus at offices of the Permanent Lebanese-Syrian Authority that were rented in the capital”s Abu Rimmaneh district early in the 1970s.
The daily newspaper An-Nahar also reported that the venue would be an "interim" compound hosting the Lebanese embassy in the Syrian capital that would be operational before the end of the year.
It did not mention if the compound would also be residence to Lebanon”s ambassador to Syria, who is yet to be named.
The report said the Syrian Foreign Ministry has asked the Lebanese Foreign Ministry to help in finding a venue for the Syrian embassy in Beirut that would be "suitable from a security point of view."
The report did not disclose further details, but As-Safir daily said Damascus would set up its Beirut embassy in the Beer Hassan district that would also host residence of the Syrian ambassador.
The district has traditionally hosted headquarters of the Syrian military intelligence in Beirut for over 30 years.
The Syrian intelligence headquarters in the Beau Rivage district was evacuated in April 2005, when the Syrian army was withdrawing from Lebanon, ending a three-decade deployment.