Lebanese minister receives an invitation to visit Syria

Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh received an invitation from his Syrian peer Walid al-Muaallim to study issued debated on the Arab summit agenda due to be held in Sudan by the end of March.

The secretary general of the Syrian- Lebanese higher council Nasri al-Khouri told journalists that he had conveyed the invitation to the Lebanese minister who promised him to study it and to respond to it, noting that decisions of the Lebanese national dialogue conference were met positively in Damascus.

The said conference reached an agreement on improving relations with Syria after such relations had witnessed great tension since the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri amid suspension on the involvement of senior Syrian officials in the assassination process. The conference also assigned the prime minister Fouad Siniora to head for Damascus in as yet undeclared date to discuss elements agreed upon on the relations between the two states.

The issue of the resignation of President Emil Lahoud, considered a Damascus ally, is still on the agenda of discussions in the dialogue conference which is expected to be resumed next Wednesday. This matter will be also added to the issue of Hizbullah weapons, defining the identity of the under conflict Shabaa Farms.