President al-Assad postpones visit to Russia

Well-informed sources in Damascus told the Lebanese daily al-Nahar on Sunday that President Hafez al-Assad's visit to Russia, scheduled to be held during autumn, was postponed.

The sources stressed that the visit was not canceled. It was postponed because of the unstable internal conditions in Russia. The sources expressed Damascus' satisfaction over former Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov's new post as Prime Minister of Russia.

In a press conference held a few months ago, the Russian ambassador in Damascus, Victor Gugitza, said that President Hafez al-Assad would visit Moscow in culmination of the tangible improvement in bilateral relations.