Syrian and French presidents meet to upgrade bilateral relations

Syrian and French presidents meet to upgrade bilateral relations

2010-12-10 03:47:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in order to discuss ways to upgrade bilateral relations in all fields, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

Al-Assad and Sarkozy met at the Elysee Palace in Paris and stressed the importance of building bridges of mutual confidence between the two nations to continue improving their relations and expanding their prospects.

Both leaders especially discussed efforts for achieving stability and prosperity in the Middle East as the situation in that region has an impact in Europe and the rest of the world. The latest regional developments were also discussed in the meeting.

Al-Assad and Sarkozy spoke about the situation in Lebanon ahead of the upcoming release of the conclusions of the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

The UN tribunal is expected to indict several members of Hezbollah for the killing amidst fears of an internal conflict ignited by the organization. Al-Assad said that no Lebanese is interested in a civil conflict.

Furthermore, the Syrian leader said that Israel is not a partner of peace and criticized the recently passed law that requires a referendum to be held before any decision to withdraw from Israeli territory, including the Golan Heights area annexed by Israel after the 1967 war.

"In this framework, Israel plays the thief who steals what does not belong to him and goes to the 'thief market' to sell it…This is something logically, legally and morally unacceptable," said the Syrian president.

Al-Assad also commented that he expects that Iraq would be able to form its government as soon as possible in order to move into the political process. He added that Syria will contact Iraqi officials to get updates on the developments of the process.

"We have no special viewpoint on the form of the government as long as it will reflect national consensus or an Iraqi national unity government," Al-Assad said. "This is enough for us in Syria because it only means one thing: preserving Iraq unit. We don't have any other interest in Iraq."

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