Lebanon, Syria Agree to Open Diplomatic Relations

BEIRUT, Aug. 13 -- Lebanon and Syria agreed Wednesday to establish diplomatic relations for the first time in their complicated history, a possible step toward reducing violence and political strife that has flared since Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon three years ago.

Hours earlier, a bomb exploded near a bus stop in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 50. Many of the casualties were Lebanese army soldiers who were on a bus headed to their posts or gathered at the stop.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that the bomb was packed in a briefcase and planted among luggage at the bus stop. Security sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the bomb was made of nuts and bolts to maximize casualties and that it was detonated by remote control.

"It all happened so quickly," a witness at the scene said. "Everything was normal. I was looking at a little girl buying bread from an old vendor and suddenly everything blew up, and it got crazy."

The timing of the bombing was considered by some here to be a message to intimidate President Michel Suleiman ahead of his negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria's capital. In addition to the issue of diplomatic ties, the two sides are to discuss border demarcation, armed Palestinians who patrol refugee camps controlled by Damascus and the fate of hundreds of Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons.

"The president is being warned that some [issues] are a red line that shouldn't be crossed," said Jawad Boulos, a member of Lebanon's parliament. The issue of border control between the two countries is one of those red lines, he said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States welcomed the opening of diplomatic ties, the Associated Press reported. "Now, if the Syrians will go ahead and demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria and respect Lebanon's sovereignty in other ways, then this will have proved to be a very good step," she said.

Since May, violence in Tripoli between Sunni Muslims and Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect, has left more than 20 people dead and dozens injured. The army has reinforced its presence in the city in recent months, deploying troops and tanks, but has withdrawn forces more than once, saying political leaders needed to make a clear decision before it could interfere militarily.

The deteriorating security situation in Tripoli, a poor city that is home to numerous radical Islamist movements with different agendas, was discussed in a parliamentary session Tuesday that preceded a vote of confidence in the new government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "The terrorist act will not block the launch of our new government," Siniora said in a statement Wednesday.

Mosbah Ahdab, a member of parliament from Tripoli, said: "The violence could be different in form, but its aim is the same: keeping a state of chaos in the city." Ahdab accused the radical Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and the opposition of orchestrating the unrest in Tripoli, saying turmoil that started in the capital of Beirut is continuing in the north.

The clashes first began as a reaction to the opposition's seizure of Beirut. The armed move was aimed at forcing the cabinet to rescind two decisions targeting Hezbollah.

A deal allowed Suleiman's election and the formation of a new national reconciliation government, leaving Siniora as prime minister and ending a two-year-old crisis between the pro-Western parliamentary majority and the opposition, which is backed by Syria.