Syria asks France to help direct talks with Israel

PARIS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asked France on Saturday to assist in direct peace negotiations between Syria and Israel, alongside the United States, and contribute to future security arrangements in the region.

A joint Franco-Syrian statement issued after Assad met President Nicolas Sarkozy also said the French leader welcomed the Syrian president's strong determination to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon.

"The Syrian President has expressed his wish that France, together with the United States of America, fully contributes to a future peace agreement between Syria and Israel, both to the direct peace talks and to the implementation of the peace agreement," the statement said.

Syria launched indirect peace talks with Israel this year under Turkish mediation but has insited that it wants the United States to be the main broker in negotiatios over the return of the Golan Heights captured by Israel in 1967.

The last talks direct between the Israel and Syria under U.S. sponsorship broke down eight years ago and Washington has been reluctant to re-engage with Damascus because of its role in Lebanon and close ties with Iran.

The statement said Sarkozy would visit Syria by mid-September to relaunch relations between Paris and Damascus, which have been tense since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which France believes was orchestrated from Damascus.

It also said the French leader, as current holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, would start the procedure to sign a long-stalled association agreement between Syria and the EU and its ratification, which were put on ice after Hariri's murder.