President al-Assad confers with Maltese FM

President Hafez al-Assad on Monday at the Damascus al-Chaab palace received Maltese Foreign Minister Guido De Marco and members of his accompanying delegation.

Talks dealt with conditions in the Mediterranean basin and matters pertaining to the European-Mediterranean partnership as well as with the Middle East peace process and bilateral relations.

Earlier in the day an agreement for banning tax duplicity was signed on Monday morning between Syria and Malta at the headquarters of the Syrian Finance Ministry by De Marco and Syrian Finance Minister Muhammad Mahaini.

Later in the day, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa received the Maltese minister. The two ministers discussed the current situation in the region, the stalled Middle East peace process and Syrian - Maltese bilateral relations. The two ministers also reviewed the European-Mediterranean partnership and the European-Mediterranean ministerial conference due to be held in Stuttgart, Germany in April.