Word: assad
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...Sarkozy's two-day stay in Damascus comes in the wake of his controversial decision to host Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as an honored guest at France's Bastille Day celebration on July 14. Sarkozy had campaigned for the presidency on a promise of a move toward human-rights centered foreign policy, and the Syrian leader is hardly a poster boy for the liberty France celebrates on its national day. Indeed, Chirac, hardly an acolyte of the Bush Administration, had been every bit as vehement as Washington on the need to punish Syria over its alleged involvement...
...justifying his July invitation to Assad, Sarkozy noted that Damascus had signaled a willingness to work to end its isolation following the Hariri killing. Ahead of Wednesday's visit, meanwhile, French officials cited other examples of improved Syrian behavior, including its hosting of Lebanese prime minister Michel Suleimane last month, and plans for Syria to open its first-ever embassy in Beirut...
...There has long been a view within French diplomatic circles that Bashar al-Assad really wants to end Syria's habit of trouble-making and re-enter the community of nations, but until recently had been undermined by the older elements of the regime left over from his father's days," says one French official involved France's evolving relationship with Damascus. "He's not perfect, and there are still real problems with human rights and the treatment of political prisoners in Syria. Still, there are enough signs of change and a willingness to work together that...
...tactics of the visit, the strategic perspective behind Sarkozy's outreach to Damascus is one shared by the Bush Administration: French diplomats detect growing daylight between Damascus and its key regional ally, Iran - and they believe that Damascus could further distance itself from Tehran if Sarkozy can persuade Assad that he has far more to gain by being a cooperative and accountable partner to the West. That would help pursue wider U.S. interests of narrowing Iran's scope for using its ally in Lebanon's Shi'ite Hizballah movement as a proxy, and also to further isolate and raise pressure...
...Sarkozy's Syria visit may prove conveniently prophylactic in other ways, too. In the wake of the Russia-Georgia conflict and Moscow's de facto occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Assad declared his support of Moscow amid widespread international condemnation. Assad even proposed that Syria host Russian missile systems to counter the interceptor system the U.S. is establishing, over Moscow's objections, in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Russians promised Assad military training and arms sales during his visit to Moscow late last month...