We Thought Embassy”s Opening Was on Sunday… So We Did Not Attend on Monday
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Monday a conflict in schedule was behind the notable absence of an official delegation at the inauguration of the first Lebanese embassy in Damascus.
"It was not intentional," Muallem told a joint news conference with visiting Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa.
He said he was under the impression that the "inauguration was taking place on Sunday" instead of Monday.
Earlier Monday, charge d”affaires Rami Murtada raised the Lebanese flag over the building located in the Damascus residential neighborhood of Abu Rummaneh, which is also home to the U.S. Embassy.
Muallem added that his deputy was scheduled to meet the Murtada to welcome him.
Lebanon and Syria reached agreement in October on establishing diplomatic ties, for the first time since gaining independence from France more than 60 years ago.
Lebanese career diplomat Michel Khoury will assume his duties as ambassador to Damascus next month.
The Syrian flag flew over Damascus” first-ever embassy in Beirut on December 26, 2008. Syria has yet to name its ambassador to Beirut.