Syria urged Lebanon on Wednesday to cooperate in fighting what it described as a terrorist threat facing the two countries following bomb attacks against their security forces.
"The security cooperation must deepen in the face of this common threat," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told a news conference after meeting his Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salloukh in the Syrian capital.
"The terrorist incidents in Damascus and Tripoli has proven that the two nations are under the same threat," he added.
Authorities in Syria and Lebanon have accused Islamist militants of carrying out the recent bomb attacks.
Syria says a suicide bomber was behind the September 27 Damascus bombing that killed 17 people, while the Lebanese army said on Sunday it had detained Islamist militants who carried out two attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli in August and September. The Tripoli attacks both targeted the army and killed a total of 22 people, including 15 soldiers.
Moualem also held talks with Salloukh on steps toward establishing diplomatic relations. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree this week to establish formal ties for the first time since France granted the two states independence in the 1940s.
The Syrian minister said Syrian security forces have beefed up their presence along the border with Lebanon to prevent "smuggling and sabotage." Diplomats said the increase in Syrian forces along the border had been marginal.
"The deployment is Syrian business. What we are doing serves Syrian and Lebanese security. Anything else said is political rhetoric," Moualem said.
Anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians are wary about the resurgence of Syria's security influence in Lebanon following the Syrian troop withdrawal three years ago.
Damascus has denied accusations by Lebanese politicians that it had supported militants who clashed with the Lebanese army at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon last year. Hundreds were killed in the fighting.
Washington also accuses Damascus of giving safe passage to jihadists fighting against its forces in Iraq, a charge Syria denies.
Moualem earlier told Lebanon's as-Safir newspaper that the uncovering of "terrorist cells" in both countries had shown that "the source of danger to both countries is one."
Salloukh said the two sides have signed a declaration that would pave the way for the opening of diplomatic relations once the legal requirements are completed. The two ministers would not be drawn on details on when embassies would open.
Syria managed Lebanon's politics and controlled its security until 2005 when international pressure triggered by the assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri forced Damascus to end a 29-year military presence in the country. Syria denies any involvement in the killing.
(Writing by Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
