SOURCE: Monsters and Critics.com
French senator Philippe Marini was on Sunday to begin a five-day visit to Syria to review bilateral relations and the situation of Iraqi refugees in the country, the French embassy in Damascus said in a statement.
Marini, who chairs the Franco-Syrian friendship group in the French senate, will meet 'various political, religious, economic and cultural figures and will visit centres offering help for Iraqi refugees,' the statement said.
The senator's visit aims to see the progress of 'reform' in Syria and 'review Syrian-French relations and the situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria,' the statement added.
Marini will stay in Damascus on April 2 and 3 before travelling to to Tartous and Lattakia on the Mediterranean coast of western Syria, and Aleppo in northern Syria on April 4 and 5, the statement said.
Syrian-French relations have been strained since the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, a personal friend of French president Jacques Chirac. Some Lebanese and Western officials have accused Syria of being involved in the assassination, a claim which Damascus has repeatedly denied.
French senator Philippe Marini was on Sunday to begin a five-day visit to Syria to review bilateral relations and the situation of Iraqi refugees in the country, the French embassy in Damascus said in a statement.
Marini, who chairs the Franco-Syrian friendship group in the French senate, will meet 'various political, religious, economic and cultural figures and will visit centres offering help for Iraqi refugees,' the statement said.
The senator's visit aims to see the progress of 'reform' in Syria and 'review Syrian-French relations and the situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria,' the statement added.
Marini will stay in Damascus on April 2 and 3 before travelling to to Tartous and Lattakia on the Mediterranean coast of western Syria, and Aleppo in northern Syria on April 4 and 5, the statement said.
Syrian-French relations have been strained since the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, a personal friend of French president Jacques Chirac. Some Lebanese and Western officials have accused Syria of being involved in the assassination, a claim which Damascus has repeatedly denied.