Abdel Halim Khaddam, the Syrian Vice President, and Farouq Al-Shara, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived in Paris two nights ago for a two-day visit to France.
Their purpose is to deliver a message from Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad to his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac.
During their visit, Khaddam and Al-Shara will meet with the French President to discuss the Israeli initiative to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
They will also receive a message from President Hafez Al-Assad regarding issues that concern both countries.
The Syrian community is particularly interested in Khaddam’s visit to Paris and his meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, as he will be delivering a message from President Assad regarding bilateral relations and developments in the region.
These circles emphasize that Khaddam and Al-Shara’s visit to France falls within the framework of Syria’s efforts to engage with Europe and explain Damascus’s position on resolution 425, which was adopted by the United Nations Security Council twenty years ago.
It is worth noting that Syrian diplomacy will be active in the coming days to expose Israel’s maneuvers and prevent the manipulation of public opinion regarding its withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Syria has high expectations for France’s role in the region, especially considering Paris’s stance that resolution 425 does not involve negotiations on security arrangements, but rather calls for an unconditional withdrawal.
Syria maintains strong relations with France in political, commercial, and technical fields, following the agreements signed between the two countries last year. Furthermore, France demonstrates a deep understanding of the Syrian position on Middle East issues and the peace process, leading to ongoing communication between Damascus and the French capital.
Observers anticipate that Khaddam and Al-Shara will visit several other European capitals after their trip to Paris, in order to shed light on the prevailing regional atmosphere and expose the potentially detrimental implications of Israeli proposals, particularly those related to Lebanon.
This Syrian initiative serves as a response to Israeli actions in European and international capitals, aiming to clarify the Syrian position on the Israeli offer and garner support for the implementation of resolution 425, ultimately contributing to a comprehensive settlement in the region.
