U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has discussed with Syrian President Bashar Assad the intended establishing of diplomatic ties between Damascus and Beirut.
Ban's spokesman Farhan Haq said the secretary general discussed during his Paris talks with Assad "the situation in Lebanon and the positive developments in the region, including the possibility of setting up diplomatic ties between Syria and Lebanon."

The Ban-Assad talks also covered the "implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, the situation in Gaza and the prisoner swap between Hizbullah and Israel," Haq added without further elaboration.

UNSCR 1701, which ended the 34-day war between Hizbullah and Israel in the summer of 2006, bans the illegal transport of weapons from Syria to Lebanon.