Canada's foreign minister to visit Syria

It was announced in Ottawa on Thursday that Canada's foreign minister John Manli will visit Syria next Monday in the framework of a tour into the Middle East region.

News reports quoted the Canadian foreign ministry as saying in a statement that the foreign minister will meet during his visit with high ranking Syrian officials.

The statement added that the tour of the Canadian minister will start on Sunday and will include Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian self- rule territories as well as Syria.

The statement explained that Manli will hold during this tour talks on means of reviving the Middle East peace process and means of preserving an international support to the US anti- terrorism campaign.