Analysis: Mediterranean summit heralds new era for Syria

PARIS, July 10 (Chinese media) -- By attending the inaugural

summit for the launch of the proposed Union for the Mediterranean in Paris,

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be making his grand return to the

international diplomatic scene after several years in the wilderness.

"President al-Assad's new found visibility, on the

international stage, will largely be attributable to the French president

(Nicolas Sarkozy), who saw the wisdom of extending him an invitation for the

Paris summit," said a Paris-based Middle East analyst.

Since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime

Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut in 2005, relations between the West, and

especially France, Lebanon's former colonial master, and Syria have turned cold.

The United Nations Security Council, which has since

launched an international investigation into the murder, believes that Damascus

was involved in the attack against the largely pro-West Hariri. Further, the

West and its Arab allies accuse Syria of meddling and undermining the Lebanese

government.

In the wake of the assassination, the then French

president Jacques Chirac, who was a personal friend of the former premier, had

decided to cut ties with the Syria, which has always denied any involvement in

the attack.

In an interview Tuesday with the mainstream French

media, al-Assad welcomed what he described as France's "new policy toward his

country" attributing it to the election of President Nicolas Sarkozy in May

2007.

"(Former) President Jacques Chirac sought to link

relations with Syria to his relations with certain personalities in Lebanon.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, has on the other hand, adopted a more realistic

approach to the whole issue," said al-Assad, adding that this had helped warm

Franco-Syrian relations.

On Saturday, the Syrian president is set to hold

face-to-face talks with Sarkozy, marking the first meeting between the heads of

state of the two countries in many years.

The next day, the Syrian leader will take part in the

inaugural UPM summit, where "almost all heads of state and government from the

Mediterranean region and Europe" will be present, according to a statement

issued by the French presidential palace

"I told Bashar al-Assad that Syria should let the

Lebanese presidential process to move forward and we will resume official

contacts. I'm happy to announce that we have resumed contact," said President

Sarkozy in mid-June explaining the resumption of Paris-Damascus dialogue.

After months of political deadlock in Lebanon, the

pro-West majority and the opposition, which is often seen as Pro-Syria, met in

Doha, Qatar, and concluded an agreement paving the way for the formation of a

government of national unity and election of consensus president.

During his interview with the French media, al-Assad

was quoted as asking France to "play an important role" in the ongoing peace

process in the Middle East, including the negotiations that are taking place

between Syria and Israel through the mediation of Turkey.

But if the arrival of the Syrian president in Paris

has been welcomed in Damascus, it has been accompanied by a hardening of

attitudes in Lebanon. The largely pro-West majority has described the

normalization of Paris-Damascus ties as "premature."

Before welcoming al-Assad to Paris, "We would like

France to first obtain an assurance from Syria that it will change its attitude

and behavior towards Lebanon," Amine Gemayel, one of the leaders of the

majority, was quoted as saying in mid-June.

According to diplomatic sources, the Syrian President

and his Lebanese counterpart Michel Sleimane are set to meet on the sidelines of

the Paris summit to discuss the issue of diplomatic relations.

"The development of stronger economic and trade

relations is also very important for both Syria and France," said one Syrian

diplomat. Al-Assad, according to reliable sources, is keen "to boost cooperation

in the fields of oil, energy, transport and aviation."

"In this respect, the political circumstances, which

had put the countries at loggerheads, have disappeared. France is preparing for

a broad economic and trade cooperation with Syria," the official Syrian daily

as-Saoura reported Monday.

For the newspaper, the recent signing of an agreement

with the French construction giant Lafarge for contracts worth 1.2 billion

dollars for the construction of two cement factories in Syria is "a prelude to

several huge French investment projects."