Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asked France on Saturday to assist in direct peace negotiations between Syria and Israel, alongside the United States, and contribute to future security arrangements in the region.
 

A joint Franco-Syrian statement issued after Assad met
President Nicolas Sarkozy also said the French leader welcomed
the Syrian president's strong determination to establish
diplomatic relations with Lebanon.
 

"The Syrian President has expressed his wish that France,
together with the United States of America, fully contributes to
a future peace agreement between Syria and Israel, both to the
direct peace talks and to the implementation of the peace
agreement," the statement said.
 

Syria launched indirect peace talks with Israel this year
under Turkish mediation but has insited that it wants the United
States to be the main broker in negotiatios over the return of
the Golan Heights captured by Israel in 1967.
 

The last talks direct between the Israel and Syria under
U.S. sponsorship broke down eight years ago and Washington has
been reluctant to re-engage with Damascus because of its role in
Lebanon and close ties with Iran.
 

The statement said Sarkozy would visit Syria by
mid-September to relaunch relations between Paris and Damascus,
which have been tense since the assassination of former Lebanese
Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which France believes
was orchestrated from Damascus.
 

It also said the French leader, as current holder of the
European Union's rotating presidency, would start the procedure
to sign a long-stalled association agreement between Syria and
the EU and its ratification, which were put on ice after
Hariri's murder.