(AFP) – Sep 2, 2008

DAMASCUS (AFP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad at the start of a two-day visit aimed at sealing a rapprochement and advancing Syria's peace talks with Israel.

"We have asked France to play a role in the indirect talks with Israel. Indirect talks is the only way now," Assad told reporters.

"We are in the process of building foundations for the peace talks. After that we can talk about direct negotiations, which require the United States and other parties."

Assad said they also discussed the West's confrontation with Tehran over the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme.

"It's clear that there is no trust between Iran and other involved parties when it comes to this issue. Failure in solving the issues means catastrophe," the Syrian leader said.

Sarkozy said he had sought Assad's support in the standoff with Syria's regional ally.

"I told the president that Syria can play a role in the Iranian issue. Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon but it has the right to have nuclear energy for peaceful use," he said.

Sarkozy flew into Damascus and went straight to the presidential palace for talks with Assad ahead of a four-way summit on the peace process to be joined by Turkish and Qatari leaders on Thursday.

He offered French help in the peace process, saying that "France is engaged in the service of peace in the Middle East."

The French president is the first Western head of state to visit since the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a 2005 bombing in Beirut that was widely blamed on Damascus.

Syria has hailed the French president's visit as an acknowledgement of the central role Damascus plays in the Middle East peace process.

"Today there is a new era between Syria and France based on France's new policy, a realistic, pragmatic policy that is aimed at achieving peace and that calls for dialogue," Assad told French television on Tuesday.

Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac broke off all high-level contact with Syria over the assassination of Hariri, who was a personal friend.

It was only six weeks ago that Assad returned to the international fold with a visit to Paris for talks with the new French president.

"As I told President Bashar al-Assad when he came to Paris on July 12, the path of peace in this region passes through our countries," Sarkozy told Syria's Al-Watan daily ahead of Wednesday's visit.

"Syria can provide an irreplaceable contribution to solving Middle East issues. It is important that Syria plays a positive role in the region," he said.

On Thursday, Sarkozy, whose country holds the European Union presidency, will join a four-way summit on the peace process with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Turkey has been brokering indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria and a fifth round of talks is expected to be held in Ankara on Sunday.

Syria has said that ultimately only the United States has the clout to sponsor direct peace talks, and that that must await the inauguration of a new US president next year.

But it has been keen in the meantime to win greater international support for the preliminary negotiations already under way.

However the prospect of a bigger EU role in its peace negotiations with Syria drew little enthusiasm from Israel, which insisted there had to be a serious change in policy from Damascus if the process was to make progress.

"Europe must be very careful in its relationship with Syria as that country opens up," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.

"Except for a slight change in tone, Syrian policies have not changed," he said, charging that Damascus "continues to support terrorist organisations" -- a reference to the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement that controls Gaza and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

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