Obied, currently the Syrian ambassador to Spain, was among three candidates to head the Syrian diplomatic mission in Lebanon,said the report, adding the two other candidates were Collette Khoury and Fayez al-Sayegh.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's majority-owned newspaper Al-Mustaqbal quoted diplomatic sources as saying on Sunday that Lebanon's ambassador to Syria would be chosen from the foreign ministry staff, and the probability would be for Lebanon's ambassador to Cyprus Michel Khoury.

The daily also revealed that the ambassador would be appointed in the next cabinet session to be held next week.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad agreed last August to establish diplomatic ties between the two neighboring countries for the first time since their independence some 60 years ago.

Syria has refused in the past to exchange diplomatic ties with Lebanon. It withdrew its troops in 2005 following 29 years of political and military domination. -Xinhua