Lebanese President Michel Suleiman Wednesday said that Beirut and Damascus were likely to exchange ambassadors by the end of 2008, local Daily Star reported Thursday.
Suleiman's remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the French-Lebanese Friendship committee at the presidential palace, in the presence of French ambassador to Lebanon Andre Parrant.
The President praised the French role in improving relations between Lebanon and Syria.
French President Nicola Sarkouzi sponsored a meeting between Syrian and Lebanese presidents in Paris earlier this summer. During the meeting, the two leaders announced to establish diplomatic ties between their countries for the first time since their independence from the French colonial rule in the 1940s.
Meanwhile, the president said, "France had played a major role in helping Lebanon out of its 18-month political crisis."
Bilateral ties between Syria and Lebanon had been chilled since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, which many blamed Damascus for being behind, but Syria denied any role.
Source:Xinhua
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