Beirut  - Lebanese President Michel Suleiman left for Paris on Saturday where he was due to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad ahead of a Mediterranean summit.

It will be the first meeting between the two since Lebanon's pro- Western and Syrian-backed factions reached an agreement in May to end the country's worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Suleiman is accompanied by Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh.

Assad is set to begin a three-day visit to France on Saturday, in what is seen by analysts as a move designed to end Damascus' diplomatic isolation from the West.

Assad is due to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee palace before joining some 40 other foreign leaders for a summit to launch the Mediterranean Union on Sunday.

On Monday, Suleiman and Assad along with leaders from Europe and the Middle East, including Israel, will attend the annual Bastille Day military parade during France's national celebrations.

"This visit is for me a historic visit: an opening up to France and to Europe," Assad said in an interview last week with Le Figaro newspaper.

While the United States continues to have tense relations with Syria, Sarkozy has been trying to improve ties with Damascus that soured following the 2005 assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri, who was a personal friend of former French president Jacques Chirac.

Syria, was widely blamed for Hariri's assassination, a charge Damascus has vehemently denied.

According to Lebanese radios, Sarkozy will raise human rights concerns during his one-on-one talks with Assad on Saturday and try to advance the Israeli-Syrian peace process. (dpa)