Syrian President confers with Australian Parliament speaker

Syrian President Hafez al-Assad on Tuesday at al-Shaab palace in Damascus met with speaker of the Australian Parliament Ian Sinclair and his companions. Sinclair expressed satisfaction over talks he held in Damascus and the positive reflection of the talks on bilateral relations.

The talks dealt with the "situation in the region, the peace process and the obstacles placed by Israel on its progress." President Assad spoke about Syria's stance on the peace process and stressed Syria's strong desire to establish a just and comprehensive peace.

Earlier in the day, Syrian Vice-President Abdul Halim Khaddam discussed with Sinclair the peace process. Later in the afternoon, Sinclair and his accompanying team left Damascus following a four-day official visit to Syria. In a pre-departure statement to SANA he described his talks with President al-Assad as "constructive and very useful." He added " we have discussed the Middle East peace process and Syria's stance s concerning it."

He continued that talks dealt with the impasse the peace process is facing, obstacles impeding it and the failure of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward in the peace process. He added: "We were impressed with the extent of commitment shown by President al-Assad and the Syrian government, and the keenness to resume negotiations from the point they broke off with the previous Israeli government of Yitzhak Rabin."

He stated: "We understand the Syrian position in this regard, and we will continue our discussions with other sides in this respect in order to achieve peace in the Middle East.

"We have tackled several important issues enabling the establishment of comprehensive peace in the Middle East, as well as the situation in the region and opportunities to develop bilateral economic relations between Syria and Australia."