Following the September 3 summit in Damascus, a source close to France’s Elysee Palace said that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had stressed during the meeting that Syria was willing to establish immediate diplomatic relations with Lebanon, but that a Lebanese constitutional stumbling block was hampering this.
At a September 4 press conference following the quadripartite meeting in Damascus, Assad said that "the judicial measures on the matter were moving ahead, and one of these days, after the measures are concluded, there will be ambassadors in both countries." He added that this was expected to happen before the end of the year.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Lebanon, September 4, 2008; Teshreen, Syria, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, September 5, 2008
