Beirut - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, arriving in Beirut on Monday, extended an official invitation to Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to visit Damascus in an effort to improve relations between the two countries.

"The Lebanese and Syrian governments will have to exchange visits to work for the interest of their people," Suleiman said.

"President Suleiman will visit Syria as soon as possible and contacts between the two sides will help set a date for the visit," Moallem said after meeting Suleiman.

Lebanese-Syrian relations soured after the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri. The Hariri killing was widely blamed on Damascus and its Lebanese allies, a charge which was vehemently denied by the Syrian regime.

"We are determined to open an embassy in Lebanon and exchange diplomatic relations with it," the Syrian official said.

Syria, which dominated the Lebanese political arena until April 26, 2005, has never had a diplomatic mission in Lebanon.

The Syrian official said Damascus and Beirut are working on demarcating their borders. "Nothing prevents the Lebanese from demarcating the Lebanese-Syrian border," he said.

Asked about Syria's relations with the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah he said: "Syria didn't ask Hezbollah to liberate the Golan. They are a resistance in the defence of Lebanon and its people."

The Golan Heights, is a strategic plateau and mountainous region that borders the countries of Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War.

On the issue of Lebanese prisoners inside Syria, Moallem said: "A Lebanese-Syrian committee is dealing with the issue of Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails and we hope that it would conclude its work soon."

Earlier, a three-member delegation headed to the Baabda Presidential Palace, the residence of the Lebanese president, to hand over a petition from families of Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails, urging Suleiman to resolve the issue.

Families of Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails attempted to approach Moallem's convoy as it was arriving at the Presidential Palace but were stopped by army troops.

A Lebanese group, called Families of Lebanese Held in Syria, has compiled a list of 280 Lebanese who they say were taken to Syrian jails and never released. Syria says there are no more Lebanese prisoners held in its jails and that all were released in 2000. (dpa)