By Xinhua,
Damascus : Syria confirmed on Tuesday that a four-way summit would be held during the two-day official visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
A quartet summit among Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would be held in Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported.
In an interview with the France 3 television on Tuesday, Assad commented on the upcoming four-way summit, saying “of course this summit will be held to work for stability,” SANA reported.
“The quartet summit will be held to see a more basic European role through France and a more active Arab role through Syria and Qatar … and Turkey, which is the only country that was capable of launching the peace process, even though indirect,” the president was quoted as saying.
“When the direct peace talks start through a U.S., French or Turkish role, or even other countries, at that time we could say, yes, we are approaching peace … but it is early to give an answer on this issue now,” Assad said in response to a question regarding indirect and direct peace negotiations with Israel.
“Of course we should wait for a new U.S. administration to see its approach, at that time we could talk about direct negotiations,” he added.
Syria and Israel have conducted four rounds of indirect peace talks under the mediation of Turkey since May.
Sarkozy is going to start on Wednesday the two-day official visit to Syria, during which he and Assad will hold talks on bilateral relations between the two countries and means of developing them in all fields, said SANA.
The latest regional and international developments, the peace process and the indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel under Turkish mediation would also be discussed, added the report.
“There is a big horizon for a Syrian-French cooperation towards all regional issues because the interest is common for the two countries and the Middle East,” Assad told the French TV.
Assad and Sarkozy agreed during a summit held in Paris in July to boost cooperation between the two countries in oil exploration, electricity, joint investment in renewable energies and air transportation, according to SANA.
Sarkozy would be the first head of state of the West to visit Syria in years.