Qatari paper hails Syria's "success" in returning to world arena

"Syria Won the Wagering"

There is no doubt that the visit of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad to France, the meetings he held, and his participation in the summit of the Union of the Mediterranean have achieved clear positive results in favour of Syria, and have proved the success of the Syrian leadership in going back to the international arena and foiling the isolation plans that some countries sought to impose on Damascus.

President Al-Asad opened a new era through this successful visit based on detente and openness towards Europe, and was able to bring Syria back strongly into the international arena, which emphasizes the sincerity of the Syrian direction and refutes the allegations that accuse Syria of perusing special goals to implement.

All [parties] understand the importance of the Syrian role in the issues of the Middle East, so no one can isolate it from any issue, especially regarding peace, since the Syrian role constitutes a pivotal axis.

During his visit to Paris, the Syrian president achieved unquestionable success in the meetings he held, and was able to promote this role which would be positive in the favour of the efforts aimed at implementing a just peace in the region that no one should be isolated from.

For sure, the renormalization of the Syrian-French relations constitutes a bright success for Damascus especially since these relations are based on solid foundations that gave them strategic nature, and the visit of President Bashar al-Asad to Paris will make [these relations] more productive and open in favour of relaxing the crises of the Arab region, bearing in mind that the renormalization of the relations may open new prospects for both sides especially after overcoming the Lebanese crisis that stood as a stumbling stone in the way of re-launching these relations.

The Syrian support to Doha agreement was clear and tangible and no one can deny that, and those who say the opposite are practising self-deceit for special goals of their own. The Syrian positive stances regarding developments in Lebanon after the the Doha agreement, and the election of Michel Sulayman as president of the republic have participated in removing the main obstacles away from the road of renormalization of the Syrian-French and the Syrian-Arab relations. The current visit of President Al-Asad constitutes an introduction to the normalization of relations with all the European states.

It is clear that Syria has won the wagering and foiled the international isolation plans, and emphasized the sincerity of its trends, and its commitment to the Arab principles of [making] peace with Israel. It [Syria] emphasized through the new openness with Lebanon and France that no one can sidestep its role, not only in Lebanon, but in the region, if they want peace to prevail, and the international community especially the Western states have to understand this reality that requires Syria to play an important and pivotal role to face its duties with the states of the region.

The strong return of Syria to the international stage is a good indicator towards bolstering peace efforts with Israel which will find itself required to proceed in conformity with the Syrian positive role and this will not be realized unless sincerity is shown in the indirect negotiations currently taking place, so the Hebrew state should respond [positively] to the Syrian demands regarding the Golan [Heights] and other Arab territories before asking for any normalization of relations.

Source: Al-Rayah website, Doha, in Arabic 14 Jul 08