Beirut  - Lebanon has officially approved establishing diplomatic ties with Syria and the opening of a Lebanese embassy in Damascus, official sources said Friday.

"The decision was taken in a late cabinet meeting Thursday and hopefully the opening of an embassy in Syria will be soon after all the necessary diplomatic issues are settled," the source said.

Information Minister Tarek Mitri said following a cabinet meeting late Thursday that Lebanon's foreign minister has been entrusted with following up on the mechanism to set up the embassy. He did not set a timeframe.

The move is aimed at ending the tense relations between the two neighbouring countries, who earlier this month agreed to establish full diplomatic ties for the first time since they gained their independence from France in the 1940s.

The agreement on diplomatic ties came during a visit last week by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri relations between Lebanon and Syria became tense after Damascus was accused of being behind Hariri's murder. Syria has vehemently denied the charge.

Syria and Lebanon have also agreed to negotiate the demarcation of their border. Syria controlled Lebanon politically for nearly 30 years until 2005 when international and local pressure pushed the Syrian regime to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. (dpa)