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Sarkozy's two-day trip is the latest step toward normalizing relations that were frozen after the 2005 murder of Lebanon's former premier, Rafiq Hariri, a close friend of the French leader's predecessor Jacques Chirac. The first visit by a Western head of state in five years, it is seen at home as a diplomatic victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, six weeks after he made a comeback on the world stage with a high-profile trip to Paris.
Analysts also see the French leader's trip as a chance for Syria to improve its relations with the U.S., which continues to blacklist Damascus as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Traveling with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Sarkozy will meet and dine with Assad Wednesday evening.
Sarkozy, whose country holds the European Union presidency, will join a four- way summit Thursday on Middle East peace with Assad and regional mediators Turkey and Qatar, according to a Turkish government spokesman. Ankara has been mediating since May in indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel, which remain technically at war since 1948. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, will both travel to Syria for the talks, the spokesman said.
While in Paris in July, Assad said he hoped "France, with the United States, can bring strong support to a peace accord between Israel and Syria." Sarkozy's visit is seen as "a door, an opportunity for Syria to improve its relations with the United States," said Andrew Tabler, consultant editor for the English-language monthly Syria Today. Syrian leaders "want Washington in the room during the negotiations with Israel," he said. Last week, the U.S. State Department said it wasn't planning to follow France's example, warning that "until Syria plays a positive role in the region, it is going to continue to isolate itself."
But Imad Shaiby, head of a strategic research center in Damascus who has close ties to Syria's leadership, said he believes Sarkozy's visit will help boost contacts with Washington. "Syria is reaping the fruit of the last period. Its patience has paid off," he said.
Syria has had strained ties with both France and the U.S. since Hariri's assassination in a massive Beirut car bombing. Paris and Washington, among others, accused Syria of orchestrating the attack, one of a string targeting its critics in Lebanon. Syria repeatedly denied the charge but two months later withdrew its troops from Lebanon, ending three decades of domination of its small neighbor. Paris moved last year to start repairing ties with Syria, but backpedalled, accusing Damascus of blocking the election of a new Lebanese president, fueling a months-long political crisis.
The election of Lebanese President Michel Sleiman in May - followed by the announcement that Lebanon and Syria would establish diplomatic relations for the first time - paved the way for a full normalization of relations. Sleiman called last week for world leaders to follow Sarkozy's example in drawing Syria out of isolation. "The international community must open up to Syria, following the example set by France, because Syria plays a fundamental role at the regional level," he said.
Syria and the U.S. enjoyed a brief honeymoon in 1991 when Syria agreed to join a U.S.-led attack on Iraq after Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait. But ties soured again after Damascus refused to join the U.S.-led war on Iraq in March 2003. Ever since, Washington has considered Syria a pariah state due to its close ties to Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah - archfoes of the U.S. and its regional ally Israel. It also accuses Syria of allowing rebels to infiltrate Iraq to join the anti-U.S. insurgency.
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