Paris Working for Quadripartite Summit in Damascus to Discuss Lebanon
Paris is trying to sponsor a quadripartite summit in Damascus grouping leaders of France, Syria, Turkey and Qatar to discuss the Lebanon situation and the Middle East peace process, the daily Asharq al-Awsat reported Sunday.
It said Paris wants the summit held during President Nicolas Sarkozy”s forthcoming visit to Damascus for talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad.
The proposed summit also is to include Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Emir of Qatar Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, according to the Paris-datelined report.
The proposed summit would consider the Lebanon situation, the Syrian-Israeli talks through Turkey, the Palestinian-Israeli talks and regional topics, the report added.
It quoted informed French sources as saying Sarkozy would not be accompanied by an expanded economic and business delegation during his visit to Syria because "the two states are still in the stage of setting up political relations."
It is unlikely for Sarkozy”s visit to Syria to result in signing "economic contracts or cooperation agreements," the report noted.
The sources said relations with Damascus "are still in the initial stage. Upgrading such relations remains linked to development of the situation in Lebanon."
It said France and the European Union want to play a role in the 2009 Lebanese Parliamentary elections by commissioning observers to monitor the balloting process.