Al-Assad confers with Italian prime minister

Syrian President Hafez al-Assad on Tuesday received at Damascus's al-Chaab palace Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema and members of his accompanying delegation.

Present at the meeting were Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa and the Italian ambassador in Damascus.

Talks during the meeting dealt with the Middle East peace process and bilateral relations. They reviewed situations and reasons which led to the stalemate in the Syrian- Israeli track of the peace process.

President al-Assad welcomed a constructive European role in order to convince Israel to accept international legitimacy resolutions and end Israel's attempts to escape basic peace requirements.

The two sides expressed satisfaction over the development of Syrian- Italian relations and the desire to expand bilateral relations in different domains.

The president held a luncheon later in the day at the al-Chaab palace in honor of D'Alema.