French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to start a two-day visit to Syria on Wednesday which would formalize normal relations between the two countries on the highest level after a freeze of political contacts for more than three years.
Historic visit from the West
Syria's role in supporting reconciliation with Lebanon and its indirect peace talks with Israel helped facilitate Sarkozy's historic trip, which would further pull Damascus out of an international isolation it suffers for years.
"The French-Syrian relations have many dimensions, which need a constructive dialogue," Syrian political analyst Ali Qasim said on Tuesday.
Sarkozy, the first head of state of the West to visit Syria in years, was expected to discuss a wide range of topics with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in their talks, veteran Syrian journalist Razzouk al-Ghawi told Xinhua on Tuesday.
"French-Syrian relations and regional issues, particularly situations in Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, as well as Iran's nuclear plan and the peace process in the region are expected to be involved in their talks," listed Ghawi.
Meanwhile, Syria and France would ink several agreements in various fields, including oil, health, economy, agriculture, industry and tourism cooperation, during Sarkozy's visit, according to the independent al-Watan newspaper published on Tuesday.
Four-party summit expected
Al-Watan also reported that Assad would host a four-way summit during Sarkozy's stay, including Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The Syrian authorities have confirmed the four-way summit.
The summit was widely seen of importance, as France holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, Syria similarly takes the rotating chairmanship of the Arab League, and Qatar currently heads the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council.
