Syrian president meets French lawmakers in Damascus

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met here Wednesday with a group of French lawmakers, the first French delegation to visit the war-torn country since the closure of the French embassy in 2012.

According to the state news agency SANA, the meeting touched bilateral relations and the terrorism challenges facing the West and the Arab regions.

The French delegation voiced the willingness to have more French lawmakers visiting Syria and get to know the reality on the ground in Syria, according to SANA.

The French lawmakers expressed their conviction that mutual cooperation would benefit both the Syrian and French people.

Assad, for his part, stressed that his country was, and is still, supporting developing its relations with other countries on the basis of mutual benefit and the respect of the sovereignty of countries.

He also pointed out that fighting terrorism requires a true political will and a true conviction that such a process would have a positive impact on all countries.

The lawmakers' visit was apparently not approved by the French Foreign Ministry, which said the lawmakers did not represent France. Endit