By Xinhua,
Damascus : Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that his talks with visiting French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy focused on the indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel.
“My talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy were frank and constructive, … we talked about many raised issues, especially in the Middle East,” Assad told a joint press conference with Sarkozy after their one-hour meeting.
“The main point of our talks today was the stability in the Middle East, and subsequently the peace process and the indirect talks underway between Syria and Israel in Turkey,” added Assad.
“We have made an assessment of the stage the negotiations have reached and the future horizons of this process and the French role which we talked about during my visit to Paris nearly two months ago,” Assad continued.
For his part, Sarkozy said France supports the indirect peace negotiations under Turkish mediation, stressing his country’s readiness to be one of the sponsors of this process when it is time to do so.
“We are building our relations with President Bashar al-Assad step by step … and we want to be relations of confidence,” noted Sarkozy.
Meanwhile, Assad hailed France’s role in the region, saying “France has a special status in the Arab world and we in Syria are content over the efforts by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to strengthen the relations between France and the Arab world on the basis of mutual respect, joint interests and constant, continuous dialogue.”
“We have always called for an active European role in the Middle East, and we feel happy over the return of this role through the new dynamic of French policy,” Assad added.
The two leaders also said they talked about the issue of Iran’s nuclear file and bilateral economic relations.
Sarkozy, the first western head of state to visit Syria in years, arrived here earlier for a two-day official visit.