French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad discussed Lebanon and the militant group Hezbollah during talks in Paris on Thursday, dpa reported.
According to the daily Le Figaro, Sarkozy hopes that al-Assad can exert a moderating influence on the radical Islamist group.
It recently threatened violence if an international tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri indicted any of its members for the crime.
Assad was last received by Sarkozy in November 2009.
US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks this week showed that the US has been critical of relations between the two countries, which have been warming since 2008.
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