Lebanese President Heads for France for Talks With Sarkozy
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman left for France today for talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy, the state-run Lebanese National News Agency said.
Suleiman met Sarkozy for the first time at a European Union- Mediterranean summit in Paris in July. The French president then chaired talks to mend relations between Lebanon and Syria that had deteriorated after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
A United Nations investigation into the killing implicated Syrian officials. Syria denied any involvement in Hariri’s death and other political killings in Lebanon.
Syria agreed to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon at the Paris meeting. Chargé d’Affaires Rami Murtada raised the Lebanese flag at Lebanon’s new embassy in Damascus today, marking its first official day of business, the Lebanese agency said.
France administered Syria under a League of Nations mandate when the First World War victors broke up the Turkish Ottoman Empire. France split the territory into two, giving independence to Lebanon in 1943 and to Syria in 1946. The Syrian government refused until July to recognize Lebanon as a separate state.
During his three-day visit to France, the Lebanese president will also hold talks with Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Suleiman’s delegation includes Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Economy and Trade Minister Mohammed Safadi and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud.