Paris - New Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and his
Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, were set to hold talks Saturday
in Paris to try to ease tensions in the Mideast.
It will be the first meeting between the Lebanese and Syrian heads
of state since Lebanon's pro-Western and Syrian-backed factions
reached an agreement in May to end the country's worst political
crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Suleiman arrived first at the Elysee Palace, where he was meeting
with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, before he was to sit down with
Assad, Sarkozy and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al
Thani.
A joint statement was scheduled to be issued at the conclusion of
the talks.
The Mideast heads of state are part of a contingent of presidents
and prime ministers from 43 EU and Mediterranean nations who will be
taking part in Sunday's launch of the Union for the Mediterranean, a
pet project of Sarkozy's.
Earlier Saturday, the French president held talks over lunch with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who will serve as co-chairman of
the Union for the Mediterranean with Sarkozy.
The Union for the Mediterranean was conceived by Sarkozy with the
aim of linking more closely the 17 non-EU nations along the
Mediterranean Basin with the 27 EU members.
On Sunday, just ahead of the summit's opening, the French head of
state was scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas .
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Saturday
that talks between Palestinians and Israelis were falling
short of expectations.
Discussing the mood ahead of Sunday's summit, Kouchner told
journalists, 'Being around the same table with people you have fought
is the beginning of something, it is a wind of hope. I'm sorry to say
that the talks between Israelis and Palestinians are not part of this
wind of hope.'
Kouchner's comment, made after a meeting in Paris with Turkish
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, suggests that little progress is
expected to come out of Sunday's meeting.
Babacar said in Paris that the Union for the Mediterranean would
'promote peace, stability and development in the region.'
Kouchner thanked Turkey for its part in the indirect talks
currently being held between Syria and Israel under Ankara's
mediation, calling it 'one of the successes of Turkish democracy.'
USA
Your Talkback on this Story