Damascus, (SANA) – President Bashar al-Assad received on Sunday a verbal message from French President Nicolas Sarkozy on bilateral relations between the two countries and the latest developments in the Middle East.

The message was relayed during President al-Assad's meeting with General Secretary of the French Presidency Claude Gueant, Diplomatic Advisor to the French President Jean-Davit Levitt, and Advisor to the French President on Middle East and North Africa Boris Boillon.

Talks during the meeting affirmed the need to build upon the recent achievements in bolstering Syrian-French relations, stressing the importance of cooperation and coordination between the two countries, especially as this cooperation proved successful in serving Syria and France's interests and serving security, stability and peace in the region and the whole world.

President al-Assad expressed relief over the role played by France through its work with the region's countries to find suitable solutions to regional problems, calling on France as the current president of the European Union to work for lifting the unjust siege imposed on the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip.

Talks also dealt with the situation in Darfur and the need to find a solution that guarantees the unity of Sudan and the safety of its land.

Both sides expressed relief over the positive developments in Syrian-Lebanese relations.

For his part, Mr. Gueant expressed France's satisfaction over the imminent signing in initials of the Partnership Agreement between Syria and the EU, affirming France's high appreciation of Syria's pivotal role. He added that Paris is determined to continue working and coordinating with Damascus in order to achieve security and stability in the region.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, Presidential Political and Media Advisor Dr. Buthaina Shaaban, Assistant Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul Fattah Ammoura, the French Ambassador in Damascus, and the Syrian Ambassador in Paris.

The latest Syrian-French summit, which was held in Damascus in September, had discussed means for bolstering bilateral relations in all fields, particularly political and economic fields, with the signing of seven agreements, memos of understanding and cooperation protocols in the fields of petroleum, natural gas and railroads.

The two Presidents also agreed on the need to resort to dialogue as the only mean to resolving the regional crisis, which would benefit Syria, France and all countries seeking to establish peace and stability.

During his latest visit to Damascus, President Sarkozy participated in the Quartet Summit meeting with President al-Assad, the Emir of Qatar State and the Turkish Prime Minister.

The recent stage witnessed exchanged visits of Syrian and French officials for following up on the implementation of signed agreements.

The summit held by Presidents al-Assad and Sarkozy in Paris mid-July had outlined the framework for launching bilateral relations, with the goal of bolstering political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries.

H. Sabbagh / Ahmad Fathi ZAHRA