Qatari and French leaders attend peace summit in Damascus

04 September 2008
The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have attended peace talks in Damascus, as part of efforts to find a settlement between Syria and Israel.

The talks on 4 September also involved Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting was part of efforts to establish a basis for peace talks between Syria and Israel. At the summit, Assad said a six-point proposal has been submitted to Israel.

Sarkozy is the first Western leader to visit Syria since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

A day earlier, Sarkozy met Al-Assad for talks on building bilateral relations between Syria and France.

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