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Syrian President Visits France Amid Pro-Israeli Gripes
PARIS, June 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who arrived in Paris's Orly airport Monday at the start of a two-day state visit to France, hopes that his first official visit would start a more vigorous European role in resolving the crisis in the Middle East peace process, news agencies said.
Assad, 35, who took over after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, a year ago, will use his trip to remind the world of Syria's right to the Golan Heights, the mountainous region captured and occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Syria's daily reported online.
But Assad's visit ran into a difficult start as pro-Israeli lobbyists started a protest against the visit. Several thousand demonstrators gathered on Monday in a Parisian square dedicated to the memory of Jews slain in World War II to protest the visit.
The demonstration was organized by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, in response to remarks made by the Syrian leader, which have been interpreted by Jews as anti-Semitic.
Some 6,000 people attended the rally, according to the police, the French news wire, AFP, said.
Among them were several leading French politicians from both the right and left and a small but vocal group of young militant Zionists.
But for France, the protests will have little bearing on the course of the official visit. Paris -ever eager to maintain its profile in a part of the world increasingly beholden to the United States - sees the visit is a chance to reinforce links with a key regional player, and to try to better understand the young leader's likely course.
France is seen as having a special role to play in the Middle East due to its long-standing ties with Syria, dating back to its 30-year rule over Syria and Lebanon after World War I.
"From her own history, France is best fitted to understand the Arab position on the subject of the conflict with Israel," said independent parliament member, Yasser Nehlawi, who sits on the legislature's national security commission.
"Syria insists on an active European role in the region, led by France. This role will certainly be more objective than that of the United States which sees nothing but Israel's interests."
Assad is likely to win approval in France for the recent Syrian troops withdrawal of their bases in Lebanon's capital Beirut.
Neblawi said that this move would be popular in France, which enjoys warm ties especially with Lebanese Christians, who have fiercely advocated the removal of Syrian forces from the country.
But French Jewish groups say they will file a lawsuit against Assad for inciting deep hatred when he accused Jews last month of having betrayed Jesus Christ and tring to betray and kill the Prophet Mohammed, reported BBC online.
Assad, who has been accused of what Jews called "anti-Semitism" for remarks made since coming to power, told French television he wanted "normal relations" with Israel once peace is achieved.
Syria's peace negotiations with Israel have been in a deep freeze since January 2000, when Israel refused Syria's demands for the turnover of the whole of the occupied Golan Heights area, including the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Meanwhile, the London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee said Monday in a statement that they are urging France to play a "constructive role" in pushing forward the condition of human rights in Syria, news agencies reported.
The statement, addressed to French President Jacques Chirac, complained that conditions under the young new Syrian president had not changed from what they were during the reign of his father.
"The prisons are still full of thousands of prisoners of conscience many of whom have been in detention for more than 20 years ... while public freedoms in Syria are still non-existent," the statement said.
The group urged Chirac "to set up a file" on all these issues and submit it to Bashar al-Assad during their talks in Paris.
Assad is guest at a state dinner given by Chirac Monday evening, and over the next two days he will meet Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe and a delegation of business leaders.
Assad is to be accompanied on his trip by some 30 businessmen as well as top-ranking officials.
France and Syria are expected to sign cooperation agreements in the fields of teaching and the economy during the state visit.
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