Assad urges Europe: Force Israel to peace

The Syrian president has urged European countries to force Israel to commit to a peaceful path during a meeting with the visiting French prime minister.

Syrian chief executive Bashar al-Assad during the Friday meeting further pointed out that peace requires true will, which he said Israel lacks.

Assad and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon discussed regional issues, especially occupied Palestinian lands and the stalled peace process. The two officials also conferred about means for nudging relations between Damascus and Paris forward.

According to the official Syrian news agency SANA, the two discussed “Israel’s repeated threats against the region’s countries and Israel’s extremism which threatens to foil chances of peace, by igniting the region with wars and leading it into the unknown.”

Fillon, the first French head of state to visit Syria in 33 years, arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday in an attempt to bolster diplomatic ties and forge new economic relations.

“My visit is aimed at sealing our relations and allowing them to take a new step forward,” Fillon said.