Damascus  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Damascus on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations and regional peace prospects, media reports said.

Al-Assad and Moratinos discussed the growing relationship between Syria and the European Union (EU) as well as Spain's efforts to revive the peace process in the region, the official SANA news agency reported.

"The two sides stressed that the current stage demands genuine political will to make decisions and guarantee their implementation," SANA reported.

Tehran - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived Wednesday in Tehran for a one-day visit and started talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the news network Khabar reported.

In his fourth visit to Tehran since Ahmadinejad became president in 2005, Assad reportedly wants to mediate between Tehran and Paris for the return home of French lecturer Clotilde Reiss.

State TV reported that Assad was in Tehran for an unofficial visit to congratulate Ahmadinejad on his re-election and explore further deepening bilateral ties.

Tehran  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is to arrive Wednesday in Tehran for a one-day visit and talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Assad reportedly wants to mediate between Tehran and Paris for the return home of French lecturer Clotilde Reiss.

Reiss is charged with espionage after she admitted in court last week that she attended protests against alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election and presented the French embassy in Tehran with a report.

Tehran  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be in Iran for a one-day visit some time next week, Fars news agency reported Sunday.

Assad has reportedly accepted a mediation role between Tehran and Paris to enable the release of the French lecturer Clotilde Reiss, with the Syrian president expected to try to persuade Tehran to release the young French woman.

Reiss is charged with espionage after she admitted in court last week that she attended protest demonstrations against alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election and presented the French embassy in Tehran with a report.

Damascus/Cairo  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has removed his brother-in-law Asef Shawkat, suspected of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, from his post as a director of military intelligence, the Syrian website All4Syria. info reported Friday.

Shawkat, married to al-Assad's sister Bushra, has been the director of the military intelligence since February 14, 2005, the website said, the same day as Hariri was killed.

Damascus  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree changing the penalty for "honour killing" to at least two years in prison, Minister of Justice Minister Ahmad Hamoud Younes said in a statement Thursday.

"The number of wife-killings has increased recently on the pretext of adultery, and the article that was abolished by the President pardoned these crimes," the official SANA news agency quoted Younes as saying.

Damascus  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sought a unified Arab stance on negotiations with Israel during their meeting in Damascus on Saturday, a Palestinian spokesman said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech last week outlining his government's policy on the Israeli-Arab conflict had made clear the necessity of a joint Arab stance.

Damascus  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday said he saw little hope of striking a peace deal with Israel's new government, which he described as the "most extreme in its history."

Speaking to foreign ministers from the 57 states that make up the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) at a meeting in Damascus, al-Assad accused Israel of being the "main obstacle" in Arab-Israeli peace talks.

Vienna - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer in Vienna Monday, at the start of a visit that was set focus not only on the situation in the Middle East, but also on bilateral economic ties. In his talks with Fischer, al-Assad was expected to discuss Syria's role in the region.

In an interview published Sunday in the Austrian daily Die Presse, the Syrian president said Israel has an "extremist, far-right government that does not support peace."

Amman  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is to visit Jordan on Friday as part of ongoing efforts to repair pan-Arab ties which received a deep blow during the recent Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, the royal court announced Thursday.

Discussions between al-Assad and Jordan's King Abdullah II would focus on "ongoing efforts aimed at working out a unified Arab stand versus common challenges," the royal court said in a statement.

Cairo  - Saudi Arabian King Abdullah is to host a summit Wednesday in Riyadh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a bid to strengthen relations between the Arab states.

"The summit is seen as preparation for the Arab League summit in Doha," expected to be held on March 30, the official MENA news agency quoted Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki as saying.

Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday spoke out against the signing of the US-Iraqi security pact, saying the presence of US troops in Iraq posed a threat to stability in the region.

"The presence of occupation forces constitutes a permanent threat to Iraq's neighbours," al-Assad told Arab parliamentarians.

The security deal being negotiated between Baghdad and Washington outlines the future of US troops in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of this year.

Under the deal, al-Bashar said, Iraq would become "a base for attacks on its neighbours."

Iran has also indicated its opposition to the deal, calling it an "assault on the sovereignty of Iraq."

Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called into question the seriousness of Israel's efforts to make peace in the Middle East on Sunday, saying the country must prove its intentions by action.

Speaking at a gathering of Arab parliamentarians in Damascus, al- Assad said that Israel's current participation in indirect talks with Syria that are being mediated by Turkey are "just a tactic, not a strategic decision for peace."

Syria and Israel have recently held four rounds of talks through Turkish intermediaries, without significant progress.

Beirut - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued Tuesday a resolution to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon and open a Syrian embassy in Lebanon, a Lebanese government source said.

The source said Lebanon's Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh was due to visit Damascus on Wednesday to discuss "steps to be taken" in this regard between the two neigbouring countries.

Al-Assad did not specify an exact date for the embassy's opening in Beirut, Al-Arabia television channel reported.

Beirut  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed Thursday that his country will not abandon Lebanon's Shiite resistance movement Hezbollah.

Assad in an exclusive interview with Hezbollah-run al-Manar Television said "we do not see any interest in abandoning the resistance (Hezbollah). Our position toward the resistance against any occupation in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine is firm and has not changed."

Damascus/Istanbul - Syria will for the first time take up diplomatic relations with its neighbour Lebanon, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday at a summit of four nations in Damascus.

The announcement, which was broadcast life on Arabic television, was made after French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Assad to break the diplomatic silence.

The meeting on current regional conflicts was attended by Sarkozy, who is current president of the European Union and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, president of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Moscow - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday accused the West of spreading "total disinformation" in an effort to isolate Russia after its conflict with Georgia, and pledged to expand military ties with Moscow.

"On this question, we fully support Russia ... Georgia started this crisis, but the West is blaming Russia," al-Assad said in an interview with the business newspaper Kommersant ahead of his arrival in Moscow for two-days of meetings Wednesday.

Al-Assad said the west was guilty of "total disinformation and distortion of facts" during the 10-day clash of Georgian and Russian forces over the separatist region of South Ossetia.

Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to Moscow on August 20, according to Syrian official sources.

Assad will meet with new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss bilateral relations and the Middle East peace process. He is also expected to meet with former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the sources said.

It will be the Syrian president's second visit to the Russian capital since January 2005. The visit comes ahead of French President Nicholas Sarkozy's visit to the Syrian capital Damascus which is set for September 3-4. (dpa)

Damascus - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is to begin a two-day visit to Iran on Saturday for talks over regional issues and Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

Al-Assad's visit comes weeks after he said he was asked by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to use his close ties with Iran to help resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.

Al-Assad is expected to also discuss with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Syria's ongoing indirect peace talks with Israel under Turkish auspices.

Paris  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad believes the administration of US President George W Bush is incapable of making peace in the Mideast, according to remarks published Monday in France.

"Frankly, we do not think that the current American administration is capable of making peace. It has neither the will nor the vision, and it has only a few more months left," Assad was quoted as saying on the online edition of the daily Le Figaro.