Sarkozy brings Assad in from the cold

The presidents of Turkey and France and the emir of Qatar are set to meet today in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad, in a step that symbolizes an increase in Syria's power in the region and the end of the isolation that has been imposed on it.

Speaking at a press conference on the arrival of French President Nicholas Sarkozy in Damascus yesterday, Assad denied that Syria was promoting a "new regional axis." However he stressed that all the participants in the summit were leading countries: France being the current president of the European Union, Syria as current chair of the Arab Summit, and Qatar as current chairman of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

One of the central issues the two presidents discussed was the Syria-Israel peace process. French sources told the Arab media outlets that the next round of talks between Syria and Israel would begin on Sunday in Turkey. Sources in Israel said this round would be critical in the formulation of a "declaration of principles" on which the parties are working, that in turn will form the basis for further talks.

French diplomatic sources told the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al Hayat that the next round will deal with borders, and also noted it would take place on Sunday. The French sources also said that the dispute over the border revolved around Syria's insistence that it an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights be to the June 4, 1967, lines, whereas Israel wants the new border to be based on the 1923 international frontier.

Sarkozy said yesterday said yesterday that France would be prepared to support the peace process between Syria and Israel in any way the parties wanted. "France is ready to be a wheel among the wheels of the process when the time comes," he said while standing alongside Assad. "Everyone wants" the talks to be direct," Sarkozy also said.

In an interview with the Syrian newspaper Al Watan yesterday, Sarkozy said Israel also had hopes for a French role. "We take responsibility publicly for this since we are aware that both sides are pinning their hopes on us. We will never let them down," Sarkozy said.

Assad said that along with the United States, France and Turkey would be the sponsors of direct talks. He said that other countries who were interested could also be involved.

The concern that a change of government in Israel will break the continuity of dialogue is worrying senior officials in Syria and other countries. Sarkozy said yesterday that the political situation in Israel had prevented a fifth round of Turkish-mediated talks between Israel and Syria.

Sarkozy is the first Western leader to visit Damascus since the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Hariri was a personal friend of the previous French president, Jacques Chirac, who joined the isolation imposed by the U.S. on Syria. But following the formal solution to the political crisis in Lebanon a few months ago, France broke with that policy and invited Assad to visit Paris in July.

Syrian television yesterday showed Assad explaining to Sarkozy how close Lake Kinneret is to Damascus and pointing toward Mount Hermon. Sarkozy told reporters yesterday there had been no issue the two had not discussed, including controversial ones like the matter of the International Court, which is supposed to hear the case of Hariri's assassination, as well as the situation in Lebanon.