Al- Assad meets with Irish FM on ME developments

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad received today Irish Foreign Minister, Brain Cowen and an accompanying delegation.

Talks during the meeting dealt with Cowen's round in the region in order to have an idea about the situation, particularly the situation in Iraq and the Syrian stance towards the peace process.

Cowen underlined the European Union's appreciation to the efforts exerted by the Quartet Committee aiming at realizing peace in the region.

He commended President al-Assad's role in establishing constructive dialogue with many countries in the world in order to reach a mechanism for dealing with the issues of the region.

He also expressed Ireland's readiness to continue dialogue with Syria concerning most issues of the region, stressing his appreciation over the Syrian exerted efforts for reaching an agreement about the Syrian-European partnership.

For his part President al-Assad pointed out to the relations of understanding between Syria and the European Union concerning the issues of the region.

Regarding the Syrian and the Lebanese peace tracks, al-Assad underlined that there are the Madrid reference, the Security Council's resolutions and of land for peace formula, stressing that these terms of reference need a clear work mechanism in order to reach a just and comprehensive peace. He also added that most of the European officials confirm that these references are the best base for realizing just and comprehensive peace in the region.