The Lebanese cabinet has agreed to establish diplomatic ties with Syria and open an embassy in Damascus, but has decided to postpone the delicate issue of appointing a new army commander.

"The cabinet has decided to establish diplomatic relations between Lebanon and the Syrian Arabic Republic, including setting up an embassy in Damascus," Information Minister Tareq Mitri announced after the 5-hour Cabinet meeting which ended around 10:00 pm Thursday.

The decision came following a landmark summit between President Michel Suleiman and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Damascus last week in which the two leaders agreed on establishing diplomatic relations.

Mitri said that Suleiman has decided to postpone the issue of key security appointments, including the post of the army commander, until next week.

News reports on Friday said that the dispute over the appointment of a new army commander was not one between government loyalists and the Hizbullah-led opposition, but rather within the majority camp itself.

The Daily As Safir said Druze leader Walid Jumblat has a different point of view from the rest of the March 14 coalition with regard to the two candidates who could be considered to the army command post.

News reports had said that the two candidates with the highest chances to become new army commander were Intelligence chief Brig. Gen. George Khoury and Brig. Gen. Jean Qahwaji.

Mitri said the debate over giving the deputy premier privileges has also been put off.

Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abu Jamra has complained that he should be given more constitutional privileges.

He called for establishing his own office at the Grand Serail so he could "keep an eye" on Premier Fouad Saniora.

Mitri said Saniora also condemned the latest Israeli threats to hit all of Lebanon if Hizbullah takes over and pledged to complain to the U.N. about the issue.

At last week's summit in Damascus, both Lebanon and Syria pledged to take concrete steps toward setting up embassies in their respective capitals for the first time.

They also pledged to take formal steps to demarcate their borders and normalize relations after years of tension.

Syrian troops were forced to leave Lebanon – ending nearly 30 years of military presence -- after the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria has denied accusations that it was behind Hariri's murder.

Both countries also agreed to reactivate the work of the joint committee to demarcate the Lebanese-Syrian borders as well as activate and step up the work of the joint committee on people missing from both countries.

They have pledged to take measures to achieve "results as soon as possible."