Beirut - Lebanon's anti-Syrian Druze leader and head of the progressive Socialist Progressive party, Walid Jumblatt, insists that the conflict between the Lebanese rival factions is based on political, not confessional, grounds.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa, Jumblatt accused what he described as some "Western states and Israel of transforming Lebanon's conflict into a confessional one to benefit from it and thus enhance it like they did in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Cairo - Washington would "never permit Syria to intervene militarily in Lebanon," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview to Al-Arabiya TV broadcast Friday.

"A clear message has been delivered to Damascus stating that Washington will not tolerate a Syrian military intervention in Lebanon." Rice said.

Recent military attacks in Tripoli and Damascus should not be used as a justification for Syrian military intervention in Lebanon, she said.

Beirut - Lebanon is to set up its first embassy in Syria in the Abu Rimmaneh district of Damascus, a Lebanese foreign ministry source said on Friday.

According to the source the Lebanese embassy in the Syrian capital is to be operational before the end of the year.

The source did not specify if the compound would also be the residence to Lebanon's ambassador to Syria, who is yet to be named.

He added that Syrian Foreign Ministry has asked the Lebanese Foreign Ministry to help in finding a venue for the Syrian embassy in Beirut that would be "suitable from a security point of view."

Abu Dhabi - In celebration of Damascus being named the UNESCO 2008 Cultural Capital of the Arab World, the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) will present Syrian Minister of Culture Riyad Nassan Agha with the MEIFF Black Pearl award on Friday.

As part of the celebration, the MEIFF screened Syrian director Rimon Boutrous' film "Hasiba" last Sunday. Prior to screening, Agha introduced the film to the audience.

Cairo - A day after Syria and Lebanon signed an agreement to create formal diplomatic ties for the first time ever, Samir Geagea, head of a major Lebanese Christian party and an implacable opponent of Syria - called for a strong state to ward off Syrian influence, and also the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Damascus - Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh arrived in Damascus on Wednesday to formally initiate diplomatic ties with Syria for the first time since independence 60 years ago.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and Salloukh announced in a joint statement "the launch of diplomatic relations between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Lebanese republic effective today, October 15, 2008."

The two ministers signed the joint statement in which they stressed their aim of "boosting relations between both their countries on basis of mutual respect."