PARIS (AFP) — Two top aides to President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad this week, the foreign ministry said Wednesday, in the latest sign of improved ties between France and Syria.
The meeting in Damascus on Tuesday came ahead of a planned visit by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to Syria and Lebanon, which could take place possibly as early as next week.
Sarkozy's political chief of staff Claude Gueant and his chief diplomatic adviser Jean-David Levitte sat down with Assad and also met with his Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, said foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier.
"These talks, which took place in a very constructive spirit, are part of the regular contacts that we have with Syrian authorities and provided an opportunity for exchange on bilateral and regional issues," he added.
Kouchner was expected to travel to Damascus and Lebanon to preside over a regional conference of French ambassadors.
"Bernard Kouchner is scheduled to meet with Syrian authorities. His schedule has not ben finalised," Chevallier said.
Relations between France and Syria have been warming since Assad paid a landmark visit to Paris a year ago and Sarkozy visited Damascus two months later in September 2008.
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