DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria formally established diplomatic relations with Lebanon on Tuesday, for the first time since both nations gained independence from France in the 1940s.

The initiative by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria ends six decades of nonrecognition and meets a demand by the United States that Syria act to help achieve stability in the region, even as Syria pursued indirect peace talks with Israel. Syria and Lebanon said they planned to open embassies by the end of the year.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon praised the development as a “historic step on the road to confirming Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty and its free decision-making.”

He added, “It is the situation which Lebanon and the Lebanese have long hoped for.”

Syria has dominated Lebanon for decades and long kept a military presence there, regarding it as a Syrian province.

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