The official Syrian newspaper Tishrin hailed the Lebanon-Syria summit and expected "past mistakes to be overcome... by establishing diplomatic relations" which it said must be based on "respect, friendship and coordination."

Syria and Lebanon have not had diplomatic ties since independence from French colonial power 60 years ago but Assad and Suleiman agreed to establish them during talks last month in Paris.

The government paper Ath-Thawra said that "Syria will listen carefully to Michel Suleiman. There will be a dialogue capable of solving all pending issues."

Suleiman is the first Lebanese president to visit Damascus since Syria pulled out its troops from Lebanon in April 2005 ending almost three decades of military domination of its "sister" nation.

The pullout came two months after the assassination in Beirut of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, for which Damascus has denied any responsibility despite accusations by Lebanese anti-Syrian groups.

Suleiman's visit aims to redefine ties between Beirut and Damascus which have been on the decline since the Hariri murder.

It comes a day after Beirut's new national unity government won a much-delayed parliamentary vote of confidence following stormy debates among rival factions on the thorny issue of weapons held by Hizbullah, which is backed by Syria and Iran.

Opposing MPs locked horns in sharp exchanges over the arsenal of Hizbullah, which insists it has the right to resist Israel.

The vote will allow the 30-member cabinet formed a month ago by Prime Minister Fouad Saniora to finally start work.

The agenda in Damascus features prickly issues such as a border demarcation, a review of longstanding accords, Lebanese detainees in Syria and the presence of radical pro-Syrian Palestinian groups in Lebanon, diplomatic sources said.(AFP-Naharnet)