[Chirac welcomes Assad in Paris. Read photo caption below].

PARIS, (Islamweb & Agencies) - Syria's president Bashar al-Assad met with his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac, Monday.
The two leaders met for more than two hours at the presidential Elysee Palace following Assad's arrival, for talks that focused on the search for peace in the Middle East, Chirac's spokeswoman, Catherine Colonna, said.
At a dinner in his honor at the Elysee Palace later, Assad warned that the Middle East peace process was in danger of collapse because "the culture of peace is not yet ripe in Israel."
At the same dinner, Chirac called for "a just and global peace" in the Middle East, which he said "depends not only on the right of the Palestinians to have a land and a state, but also on the legitimate return of the Golan Heights to Syria."
Assad, 35, who took over on the death of his father Hafez al-Assad a year ago, hopes to use his first state trip to Europe to project a modernising image for Syria.
During their one-on-one talks, Chirac also expressed his "support" for "the reform efforts underway in Syria", while cultural and economic relations were also raised, Colonna said.
In May during a visit to Damascus by Pope John Paul II, Assad accused Israelis of wanting to "assassinate all principles of all religions in the same way as they betrayed Jesus and tried to kill the prophet Mohammed."
In further engagements over the next two days, Assad was to meet Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, a group of business leaders, and face questions from the foreign affairs committee of the National Assembly.
Analysts say, Assad wants French help in his efforts to liberalise the economy, as well as to achieve his diplomatic goals of a greater European role in the Middle East peace process, and ultimately the recovery of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
And for France -- ever eager to maintain its profile in a part of the world increasingly beholden to the United States -- the visit, according to the sources, is a chance to reinforce links with a key regional player, and to try to understand better the young leader's likely course.