United States May Copy French Rapprochement

Pro-government media in Syria trumpeted the revived relationship with France this week, with some commentators saying the change could influence the United States to take a softer stance.



On July 12, the first day of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's visit to Paris, the pro-government Al-Watan newspaper argued that the US had toned down its anti-Syrian rhetoric recently, and that this was a sign that Washington was adopting the French view of the country.



The pro-government website Syrian Echoes reported on July 14 that Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which are critical of Syria, were unhappy about Assad's trip to Paris, and that the Saudi foreign minister was in Paris two days before the July 13 Mediterranean Union summit to ask President Nicolas Sarkozy not to resume relations with Damascus.



Instead, said the website, the Syrian president met many Arab and European leaders, and emerged as one of the few winners from the summit.



In an editorial on July 14, Ayman al-Daqer, editor-in-chief of the Black and White news magazine, asserted that former French president Jacques Chirac had followed the US policy of isolating and pressuring Syria. Now Sarkozy is trying to "be a partner, not a follower, of those in the White House", he argued.