Beirut - Visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Near East, David Hale, said Thursday his country will keep on supporting Lebanon's independence and sovereignty.

"The United States will continue supporting Lebanon as a sovereign and independent state, as well as its government. We also want to strengthen our support to Lebanon and its institutions," Hale said after meeting Premier Fouad Seniora.

He stressed that the US will continue to provide training and equipment to the army to enable it to improve the security situation in Lebanon.

Hale cautiously welcomed the decision of Lebanon and Syria to establish diplomatic relations and stressed the needed for such ties to be maintained under mututal respect.

Links between Beirut and Damascus, which for three decades dominated Lebanon until its troop withdrawal in April 2005, soured after the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri.

Syria, together with its allies in Lebanon, was openly accused by Hariri's supporters of plotting his murder, but Damascus continues to deny this.

Syria and Lebanon agreed on August 13 to start diplomatic ties for the first time since independence about 60 years ago, during a landmark visit to Damascus by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. (dpa)