Suleiman's visit comes two days after the formation of the new Lebanese government and few hours before Assad's departure to Paris for work visit.
The two sides were expected to discuss the latest developments in the region and the relationship between the two countries, according to Syria’s news agency SANA
Bilateral relationship between Damascus and Beirut has been improved in the last few months.
"President Assad hopes that this new page of cooperation between Syria and Lebanon would help (bring) stability and development to Lebanon and the Lebanese people," SANA quoted an official from the presidential palace as saying.
According to As-Safir daily the summit will produce Syrian support for the new Lebanon government. It will also pave the way for the open door policy that Damascus has decided to follow in light of the new Lebanese political path after the June parliamentary elections.
As-Safir also reported that Suleiman described his relationship with Prime Minister Saad Hariri as "good". In an interview published by As-Safir daily newspaper on Thursday, president Suleiman said that the new Prime Minister Hariri “has good intentions.”
"The experience as premier-designate was useful for him because it enabled him to go into deep discussions with Opposition figures," the Lebanese president believed that such experience would “facilitate the work of the government and build bridges of trust.”
According to local political observers , Suleiman’s visit will pave the way for the visits of premier Hariri and MP Walid Jumblatt, who have been planning to make a ''historic'' visit to Syria, a country accused by both leaders of being behind the murder of their fathers: Kamal Jumblatt in 1977 and the former premier Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Thursday
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11:45 pm BBC : Swine flu has killed nearly 4000 people in the US, including 540 children, officials said after devising a new counting method. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new system is based on more precise figures
11:30pm PM Hariri left for saudi Arabia on a private visit
11:30 pm AP: President Barack Obama's drawn-out decision-making on Afghanistan is sending messages. To the Afghan government: Clean up your act.
10:30 pm Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said "Hezbollah will work through this government to make it efficient and interactive by cooperating with all the parties,"
10:20 pm AFP: After discussing peace efforts with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Paris on Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy phoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in order to discuss conditions for the renewal of negotiations.
10:12pm Gemayel told Al Arabiyeh : the talk about us leaving March 14 is not logical . what united us with its leaders is bloodand nothing can separate us and we will be cooperating within the government and the parliament
10:10 pm VOA : Russian President Dmitri Medvedev is calling for sweeping economic, social, political, and military modernization of his country. In his second annual State of the Nation address, the Kremlin leader said Russia must become a society of smart, free and responsible people - instead of an archaic society in which a few think and decide for all.
10;00 pm Military prosecutors have charged Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan with 13 counts of premeditated murder in last week's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex
9:50pm Change and Reform bloc leader Michel Aoun told LBC: God granted me vision and I always said that Lebanon is only governed by consensus . We have fought to bring justice back to the Lebanese system and abolish injustice and the marginalization of Christians . I am not in the position to evaluate Hariri....we built bridges together and I believe we can build a good relation with him.
9:44 pm Aoun told LBC: the agreement over government formation took place before Bassil visited Syria . Suleiman Franjiyeh 's involvement did not bother me
9:30pm Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel told Al-Arabiya: We felt like the Phalange party lost martyrs while others took all the credit. I’m sorry to say that I’m talking about some March 14 forces.
8:15pm Social Affairs Minister Salim al-Sayegh told MTV: Phalange Party is still at the core of parliamentary majority alliance , and is not seeking an alibi to divorce it.
8:06pm OTV: Hariri started preparations for visit to Syria and is now in [process of assembling his accompanying delegation
8:05pm PM Hariri received a call from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulating on the formation of the government.
7:15pm Security forces managed to arrest the killer of First Sergeant Charbel Jarjoura
5:50 pm Al Manar : Syrian presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban said it is "still early to talk about practical steps regarding the visit of PM Saad Hariri to Syria.” Sources close to Hariri did not rule out a visit to Damascus by the Lebanese premier, however, the visit "was not imminent."
5:50pm President Suleiman met at the Baabda Palace with State Ministers Mona Ofeish and Adnan al-Sayed Hussein
4:16pm U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison departed Beirut heading toward the U.S.
3:17 The Palestinian electoral commission on Thursday said general elections called for January should be postponed, because the vote cannot take place in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
3:17pm PM Saad Hariri met with Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil. The two men discussed the affairs of Bassil's ministry and general issues.
3:19pm LBC : The Lebanese security forces was able to identify the man suspected of killing First Adjutant Charbel Jarjoura. He is a Palestinian, who carries a Jordanian passport and has been hiding in Palestinian refuge camp of Burg el Barajneh
3:15 pm SANA: In a statement issued after their meeting, Assad calls for strengthening consensus in Lebanon; Sleiman emphasizes "special relations" with Syria
3:00pm MP Michel al-Murr: Hariri will visit Syria in a few days, and the Syrian role was effective in ending the governmental crisis.
2:38pm Interior Minister Ziad Baroud headed an extraordinary Central Security Council meeting.
2:28 pm LAF and ISF arrest man suspected of killing First Adjutant Charbel Jarjoura, who was murdered on Jal al-Dib-Antelias highway Wednesday
12:48pm NNA: Suleiman returns to Baabda via helicopter following the 90-minute summit with Assad.
12:22pm MP Talal Arslan received two separate phone calls from Suleiman and Hariri: Need to unite around the army and the resistance to thwart Israeli plots.
12:08. Future News: The session for the election of parliamentary committees ended. MPs elect parliamentary commissions based on prior agreements
11:30 Security forces at Beirut airport arrested a man who was trying to smuggle large quantities of drugs to Amsterdam.
11:15 Hariri, Berri meet at Nejmeh Square
11:00 Suleiman arrived in Damascus for talks with Assad.
10:42 Makari says there is prior agreement on elections of parliamentary commissions
10:35 PM Saad Hariri arrives at Nejmeh Square to participate in parliamentary commissions election session
10:15 President Michel Suleiman traveled to Syria to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
8:25 Labor Minister Boutros Harb to VDL: There is no disagreement on resolution 1701 and the resolution on the international tribunal. The most important thing is to discuss a mechanism to agree on different issues.
7:35 Former MP Mustafa Alloush to VDL: Relations with Syria should be based on the concept of brotherhood and not subordination.
Wednesday
9:30 pm PM Saad Hariri stressed the need to “build the trust that is missing between the Lebanese and their state.” He added that Lebanon “will not remain a battlefield for regional conflicts,” highlighting his commitment to “Arabism,” and “the Lebanese state.”
According to Hariri, “The Lebanese deserve a civil and secure state to continue the messages of Arabism and culture.”
8:00 pm Times: A Russian-born immigrant who stabbed to death a pregnant Muslim woman as she gave evidence against him in court was today given Germany's highest possible sentence for murder - 15 years' jail with no chance of early parole.
7:59 pm Yemen's official news agency says the country has signed a military cooperation deal with the United States, as Yemen battles a growing Shi'ite rebellion in the north.
7:57pm Phalange Party said it will be part of the government and suggested a reform plan for March 14 and said it supports its representative, Minister of Social Affairs Selim Sayegh
7:55pm Phalange Party political bureau member Sejaan Kazzi: The government formation does not represents the Lebanese ambitions and the implementation of the true democratic system.
