Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Tuesday made his first trip ever to Syria, where he reportedly held talks with President Bashar Assad as
part of an extended tour to strengthen ties with new and old allies in the Middle East and Asia.
Assad was at Damascus airport to welcome Castro, 74, who flew in from Qatar for a two-day visit. The two leaders then drove back to the capital together, where
they held further talks, state-run media reported.
Large sections of the roughly 20-mile road connecting the airport with the capital, as well as the area around the People's Palace, the hilltop seat of the presidency
that overlooks Damascus, were festooned with Syrian and Cuban flags.
An official welcome ceremony was later held at the palace, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency.
State-run television said the two leaders and their aides met and discussed regional and world issues and bilateral relations before Castro and Assad met behind
closed doors.
Castro and Bashar Assad's father, the late President Hafez Assad, had met several times on the sidelines of international gatherings. Tuesday's meeting was the
first between the Cuban leader and the younger Assad, who took office after his father died 11 months ago.
News of Castro's visit appeared on the front page of Syria's three state-run dailies, along with pictures of the Syrian and Cuban leaders.
Under the pictures, the Tishrin daily lavishly praised the Cuban leader and bilateral relations, using the kind of rhetoric that has been a hallmark of Castro's own
speeches throughout his 42 years in power.
``President Castro does not need introductions -- he is the leader of a revolution that shook Latin America and destroyed the might of imperialism and restored to the
people their independence, dignity and charted for them the path to social and economic recovery,'' Tishrin said.
Talks between Assad and Castro will benefit bilateral relations and ``reflect positively on the world liberation movement and the struggle of peoples for a better
tomorrow that is rid of threats, oppression and suppression,'' the newspaper said.
Like Cuba, Syria is on the U.S. State Department's list of countries sponsoring terrorism. And like Cuba, Syria also is a harsh critic of U.S. policies, particularly
what it sees as Washington's strong bias in favor of Israel, Damascus' archenemy for more than half a century.
Syria is the fifth leg of a tour that Castro began May 6. Other stops included Qatar, Algeria, Iran and Malaysia.
The trip is partly designed to boost bilateral relations with friendly countries in the Middle East and Asia, especially those thought to be potentially beneficial in
Havana's search for cheap energy. Syria produces about 650,000 barrels of oil daily, of which it exports about 300,000 barrels. Its natural gas output is expected to
reach 18.2 million cubic meters per day this year.
In Cairo, Egypt's Middle East News Agency said Castro was expected to go to Libya Wednesday for talks with Moammar Gadhafi, the Libyan leader, but the report
could not be immediately confirmed. Libya is a major oil producer.
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