BEIRUT: The March 14 General Secretariat welcomed Wednesday an open letter to the Lebanese by the opposition Syrian National Council, arguing that democratic change in Syria is a “historic opportunity” for an independent sovereign Lebanon.

Following its weekly meeting, the March 14 General Secretariat described SNC’s open letter as “a historical memorandum” in a statement.

“It provides the first Syrian vision of its kind of Lebanese-Syrian relations, stipulating the reasons for the previous imbalance and paving the way to turn over the painful and black page of history,” said the statement.

“Hence, as much as democratic change constitutes a historical opportunity for Syria; for its peace, advancement for the Syrians, it is a historical opportunity for a sovereign, independent Lebanon,” the statement read.

The SNC announced last week that, should it come to power in Syria, it would seek to re-evaluate agreements between Syria and Lebanon and clearly demarcate the border between the two countries, particularly in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, as a first step toward achieving equal bilateral relations.

The statement said the council would abolish the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council, established by Lebanon and Syria through the Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation, and Coordination of 1991.

It vowed to end political meddling in Lebanon, and establish an investigation committee to look into the cases of Lebanese detained or presumed missing in Syria.

The SNC also stressed that the relationship between the two nations should be governed by the framework of diplomatic representation via the two countries’ embassies.