DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Lebanon has opened its first ever embassy in Syria which dominated its small neighbor for nearly three decades.

Monday's move seals the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two countries for the first time since they gained independence from France in the 1940s. Syria opened an embassy in Beirut in December.

Relations between the long-feuding neighbors reached a turning point in August when the two agreed to establish ties and demarcate their contentious border. The agreement marked a final break in Syria's longtime dominance over its smaller neighbor.

Diplomatic ties with Syria has been a pressing demand by Lebanon's anti-Syrian factions, the United States and other Western countries.