EU Push for Peace

With Syria involved in political strife in neighboring Lebanon and affected by civil conflict in Iraq, the 27-member bloc's leaders will break with policy by sending Solana to Damascus for the first time in two years.

Official European Union talks and indeed international dialogue with Syria have been frozen since the death in February 2005 of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, whose murder in a bomb attack has been at least partly blamed on Damascus.

French President Jacques Chirac, a close friend of Hariri, has previously blocked all overtures for talks from the Syrian side.

Merkel says Syria not doing enough

Syria's international diplomatic isolation was partially lifted this week when it was involved for the first time in talks with the United States and other powers aimed at finding ways to end the chaos in Iraq.

But suspicions linger among European leaders that Syria isn't doing enough to help secure peace in neighboring Lebanon which is limping back to normality after a crippling war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerillas in which more than 1,000 people died.

Over the weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who currently heads the EU's six-month rotating presidency, accused Syria of a lack of cooperation in defusing tensions in the Middle East.

"There is no cooperation in sight on a strengthening of Lebanon's sovereignty," Merkel said, speaking at a European-Israeli Dialogue in Berlin.

"Everything is pointing to Syria's not being able or not being willing to take a step in the direction of the great majority of the

international community," she said, adding however that "the door" was open.

EU countries currently make up the bulk of an expanded 12,000-strong UN peace force deployed last year in Lebanon alongside Lebanese troops.

Solana said his visit next week, sanctioned by EU heads of state and government who met in Brussels last week for a summit, would be part of a general trip to the region that would also take in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

He said he had been mandated to take "a trip to Syria, to tell the Syrians what the situation is... to tell them we want them to work with us and with the international community, particularly on the Lebanon issue."

Solana is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday and is also expected to attend the March 28 summit of Arab League leaders in Riyadh.

"A European road map"

French President Jacques Chirac said he "approved without reservations" Solana's trip, adding that the EU official would go to the region "with a European road map" for future relations.

Chirac, who held lengthy talks with Solana last week, said the visit would begin with a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, followed by talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II and then Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

EU officials had said that Syria could not be approached in a concerted way by the bloc until Chirac leaves office, which appears almost certain after presidential elections in May. An official with the French president's delegation confirmed that an agreement had been reached on "the terms of reference of a personal mission by Javier Solana to go to Syria, in the name of the European Union."

He explained that Chirac felt it was better to have a focused EU approach, rather than rely on attempts to engage the Syrians by individual member countries, like contacts made through the German and Spanish foreign ministers.

EU officials acknowledge privately that they have been looking for a way to resume talks with Syria and prise it away from the powerful influence of Iran, which, like Damascus, holds sway over the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Last week, EU leaders underlined their "determination to reinforce Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence."

In a statement, they "urged all members of the international community to lend their support" to efforts to set up a special tribunal to look into Hariri's killing.

Solana to press Syria to play constructive role

On a visit to Brussels last week, Saad Hariri, the late prime minister's son, accused Syria of blocking moves to end a dangerous political deadlock in his country, as Saudi Arabia works to end it.

"I believe that the main problem today is the Syrian regime who is trying to stop this agreement," Saad Hariri, who is also Lebanon's parliamentary majority leader, said.

A European diplomatic source said Solana will seek to impress on his Lebanese hosts the value of Syria playing a more constructive role in areas such as Lebanon, Iraq and the Middle East peace process. Syria has received many Iraqi refugees.

The EU had finalized a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Syria in late 2004, but the deal was frozen without being formally signed.

The EU has remained Syria's main donor, giving it around 300 million euros worth of aid since 1995.