Syrian Ambassador Arrives in Lebanon
Syria”s ambassador Ali Abdel Karim Ali arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday to assume his duties 12 days before the scheduled parliamentary elections.
The foreign ministry”s head of protocol George Siam and Syria”s charge d”affaires Shawki al-Shamat met Ali at the Masnaa border crossing and accompanied him to Beirut.
An Nahar daily said that the ambassador will present his credentials to Salloukh on Thursday and President Michel Suleiman the next day.
According to the daily, Ali was scheduled to arrive in Beirut in the aftermath of the June 7 polls.
Ali, who was born in 1953, has been ambassador to Kuwait since November 2004 and has also served as the head of Syrian state radio and television and the official SANA news agency.
Lebanon opened its first embassy in Syria in March, five months after the neighbors established diplomatic ties following decades of turbulent relations.
Career diplomat Michel el-Khoury was named Lebanon”s ambassador to Damascus at the start of the year and assumed his duties in April.