DAMASCUS - SYRIA and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to take formal steps to demarcate their borders as part of a string of decisions to normalise their relations for the first time after decades of tension.

The announcement came as President Michel Sleiman wrapped up a landmark two-day visit to Damascus - the first by a Lebanese president since Syria ended almost 30 years of military domination over Lebanon in April 2005.

The two countries also pledged to examine the fate of hundreds of people missing since the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war - amid claims by rights groups that around 650 people who vanished during the war are being held in Syria.

Mr Sleiman and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also agreed to control their borders and curb 'trafficking', Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salukh told a news conference.

But a joint statement made no mention of weapons which Lebanon's anti-Syrian ruling majority says flow across the border and are intended for the Syria- and Iran-backed Hizbollah militant Shi'ite group.

Relations between Lebanon and Syria have been tense since Lebanon's former premier Rafiq Hariri was killed in a massive Beirut bomb attack in February 2005.

Damascus denied responsibility despite claims by Lebanese anti-Syrian groups that it was involved.

Mr Assad and Mr Sleiman agreed 'on setting up diplomatic relations between the two countries at the level of ambassadors', the statement said, reiterating an announcement made at the start of Mr Sleiman's visit on Wednesday.

Mr Salukh said both countries will take steps next week to implement the decisions.

Syria and Lebanon have not had diplomatic ties since independence from colonial power France - Lebanon in 1943 and Syria in 1946 - but Mr Assad and Mr Sleiman agreed to establish relations during talks last month in Paris.

The United States cautiously welcomed the establishment of diplomatic ties between Syria and Lebanon.

'One of the steps that has long been required is the establishment of a proper embassy for Syria in Lebanon and vice versa', US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday.

'Now, if the Syrians will go ahead and demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria, and respect (Lebanon's) sovereignty in other ways, then this will have proved to be a very good step', she added.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon noted 'positively' the decision to establish diplomatic relations and delineate the border between the two countries, his press office said.

Both Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates also hailed the agreement, with Kuwait saying it serves the interests of both Syria and Lebanon and the UAE welcoming 'that the two brotherly countries will establish diplomatic ties'.

Lebanon and Syria said they agreed 'to reactivate the work of the joint committee to demarcate the Lebanese-Syrian borders within a mechanism and a set of priorities' and would take 'administrative and technical steps'.

The borders are poorly delimited in certain places, particularly the Shebaa Farms, a mountainous sliver of water-rich land at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and northern Israel.

The 25-square-kilometre tract of farmland was seized by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and is now claimed by Beirut with the backing of Damascus.

Israel says the area is part of Syria.

Mr Muallem insisted that Israel must end its occupation of the Shebaa Farms before the border can be marked.

'It is not possible to mark the borders in Shebaa Farms as long as there is still Israeli occupation. The occupation must end', he said.

Syria and Lebanon also agreed 'to activate and step up the work of the joint committee on people missing from both countries' since the Lebanese civil war, pledging to take steps capable of 'reaching results as soon as possible'. -- AFP