Red carpet treatment for Chirac signals new relationship

The image of the ageing Syrian leader gesturing towards the French President yesterday and calling him "my very dear friend" said it all. Fifty years after bombing Damascus, France had returned triumphantly to the Middle East.

Franc Was ensuring that Syria could not be isolated. Together, they were defying US wishes by making their joint appeal to save the Middle East peace process.

Mr Jacques Chirac did not mince his words. "The peace process is in danger," he said. "France and Europe must stand by the parties as sources of friendship and proposals."

He was speaking at an official dinner given by President Hafez al Assad, who condemned the government of the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, blaming him for creating the present impasse in the peace process.

The Israelis had "turned back on all the efforts and commitments made over the past five years", Mr Assad said. "Their policy is total abolition of the peace process."

Washington does not want France - or Europe - to interfere in its Middle East preserve. Just before the Dublin EU summit on October 5th, the US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, took the unprecedented step of writing to all EU foreign ministers, asking them to stay out of Middle East affairs. The US warning was disregarded by most European governments.

Mr Chirac indirectly criticised US mediation in the peace process, alluding to "the explosive potential of poorly managed international situations".

France believes the peace process is failing because Arabs see the US as an untrustworthy sponsor which does not hold Israel to the agreements it signs. By maintaining Syria on its list of "state sponsors of terrorism", the US has put pressure on Damascus to make peace with Israel.

But France has adopted a different strategy. "The Syrians are afraid of being isolated," a French diplomat said. "We think the less isolated Syria is, the more open it will be.

The French believe the EU is not yet ready or able to act decisively in the Arab Israeli conflict. They also feel that France's 1920-1946 colonial mandate in Syria and Lebanon created a "special relationship" with those countries.

Yet on the basic issues of land for peace, the necessity of implementing agreements already concluded and the Palestinians' right to self determination there is harmony in the EU.

"The Europeans are involved to different degrees in the Middle East," said a high ranking French source. "But whenever we've had to take a decision, I've never seen any disagreement".

During the 1995 French EU presidency, Paris pushed through Israel's application for an economic agreement of association with the EU. This, French officials say, is proof of France's goodwill towards Israel. Lebanon, Syria and Jordan now wish to conclude similar accords, which define the volume of trade and establish preferential tariffs.

Mr Chirac yesterday announced that France and Syria have agreed to reschedule part of Syria's £238 million debt to France - a longstanding hindrance in their relations.

The French treasury will provide credits for joint Syrian Lebanese projects for the first time since the 1986 "Hindawi affair".

when a Palestinian believed to be working for Syrian intelligence tried to plant explosives on an Israeli airliner at Heathrow. France has also promised to plead Syria's case in international financial institutions.

The warmth of the reception given to Mr Chirac surprised - French diplomats and marked a historic reversal in Syria's traditionally poor relations with France.

Mr Assad rolled out the red carpet for the French President at Damascus airport, greeting him with a military band and 21 gun salute. Thousands of Syrians waved posters of the two presidents, showered them with rose petals, and shouted, "Vive El Assad, vive Chirac".

Government controlled Syrian newspapers praised Mr Chirac as "a great leader and one of the best friends of the Arabs".

The French President returned the compliment by telling Mr Assad that "nothing can be accomplished in the Middle East without Syria and, thus, without your assistance."

The hardest part of Mr Chirac's Mideast journey will begin this morning, when he arrives in Tel Aviv.

. Israel yesterday rejected calls by President Chirac for Europe to become a co-sponsor of the troubled Middle East peace process alongside the US.

The Prime Minister, Mr Netanyahu, said European intervention at a "sensitive" time for peace negotiations could complicate matters.

"The United States is playing a very important role as facilitator, and I don't think that at this time in such sensitive negotiations it would be wise to introduce another interlocutor," he said.

"I would be very careful before would add more cooks to the broth," he added.