Syria to send ambassador to Paris, diplomat says

Syria will soon send an ambassador to Paris for the first time in two years, ending a freeze in relations between the two nations, the country's top diplomat in London said Tuesday. Syria's ambassador to Britain and Ireland, Sami Khiyami, said a new envoy is likely to be sent to France in "the very near future" — a signal that Syria is on the brink of warmer ties with Europe. He said Syria was edging closer to holding direct peace talks with Israel after three rounds of indirect discussions brokered by Turkey. Syria demands that Israel returns the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured in the 1967 war. Turkey will host a fourth round of indirect talks between the two sides over a peace deal later this month. But the ambassador said it is unlikely Syrian President Bashar Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert... [read full story]