Dubai: French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Damascus on Wednesday in a high profile meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, giving Syria "diplomatic victory" following years of political isolation, a top Syrian expert told Gulf News.
Professor Murhaf Jouejati, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the National Defence University in Washington DC, said that Sarkozy's visit will be the first by a Western head of state to Syria in five years.
"This visit will help end Syria's regional isolation," Jouejati said. Sarkozy's two-day visit is also important in reviving relations that were soured after the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was a close friend of former French President Jacques Chirac.
Bashar wants to regain the favour of the West, and Sarkozy has acknowledged that Syria has an "essential role" in the Middle East.
Six weeks ago, Bashar visited Paris to discuss regional cooperation and normalisation of relations between France and Syria. "France wants Syria to play a stabilising role in Lebanon, to push forward with peace talks with Israel and to improve its human rights record with regard to political prisoners," Jouejati said. Syria believes the visit will bring it closer to Washington and hopes that the US administration will back indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel, Jouejati added.
