Syria intends to buy Airbus aircraft and is open to signing contracts with French oil firm Total, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday after a thaw in relations between Paris and Damascus. France and Syria announced on Friday a plan to boost their ties as part of a package in which Damascus said it intended to normalise relations with neighbouring Lebanon.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would visit Syria by mid-September. "Syria intends to order Airbuses from France," Assad told France Inter radio. "Total was present in the past. We have invited the head of Total and they are interested in investments in Syria," he said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a drive to sell French nuclear technology to developing countries, but he had not done so with Syria, where Israeli jets bombed what Washington says was a secret nuclear reactor site. "Regarding nuclear energy, it has not been discussed until now despite the surge in oil prices," Assad said.