By attending the inaugural summit for the launch of the proposed Union for the Mediterranean in Paris, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be making his grand return to the international diplomatic scene after several years in the wilderness.

"President al-Assad's new found visibility, on the international stage, will largely be attributable to the French president (Nicolas Sarkozy), who saw the wisdom of extending him an invitation for the Paris summit," said a Paris-based Middle East analyst.

Since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister RafikHariri in Beirut in 2005, relations between the West, and especially France, Lebanon's former colonial master, and Syria have turned cold.

The United Nations Security Council, which has since launched an international investigation into the murder, believes that Damascus was involved in the attack against the largely pro-West Hariri. Further, the West and its Arab allies accuse Syria of meddling and undermining the Lebanese government.

In the wake of the assassination, the then French president Jacques Chirac, who was a personal friend of the former premier, had decided to cut ties with the Syria, which has always denied any involvement in the attack.

In an interview Tuesday with the mainstream French media, al-Assad welcomed what he described as France's "new policy toward his country" attributing it to the election of President Nicolas Sarkozy in May 2007.

"(Former) President Jacques Chirac sought to link relations with Syria to his relations with certain personalities in Lebanon.President Nicolas Sarkozy, has on the other hand, adopted a more realistic approach to the whole issue," said al-Assad, adding thatthis had helped warm Franco-Syrian relations.