Lt. Gen. Bashar al-Assad hold separate meetings with several Arab, world leaders

Lt. Gen. Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, while accepting condolences on the death of late President Hafez al-Assad held several separate meetings with several leaders.

He held a separate meeting with the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the chairman of the Russian Duma council Genady Selzenyof who ( the Russian official) handed him a message of condolences from the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lt. Gen. al-Assad also held meetings with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, President of the Islamic republic of Iran, President Najdat Ahmad Sezeir of Turkey and with the French President Jacques Chirac.

Lt. Gen. al-Assad also held separate meetings with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, the ruler of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and the British Foreign Minister Robin Cook.

Talks during these meetings dealt with the situation in the region, ME peace process developments and bilateral relations between Syria and these countries.

Meantime, the Saudi crown prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz received at his residence in Damascus on Tuesday the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and members of the accompanying delegation who came to Damascus to take part in the funeral of President Hafez al-Assad.

The Saudi official delegation accompanying Crown Prince Abdullah to the late president's funeral also attended the meeting.