European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering met on Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to discuss the latest regional and international developments as well as ways of boosting bilateral relations, a presidential statement said. Pottering arrived in the Syrian capital Saturday as a second stop of a tour that also took him to Lebanon. He said his talks with Syrian officials would focus on the bilateral relations between Syria and the European Union (EU) states, in addition to the peace process in the Middle East. Referring to his meeting with Al-Assad, an authoritative source told Kuwait News Agency "KUNA" that Pottering was keen to be briefed on the Syrian point of view as regards regional developments, namely the current situation in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon as well as the peace process in the light of the indirect Syrian-Israeli negotiations under Turkish mediation. The source said Pottering will discuss with Syrian officials the outcome of Al-Assad's recent visit to France and his meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy
