Hopes Low for Meeting Between Syria, Israel Leaders
By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press | July 11, 2008
PARIS — At Sunday's launch of the Union for the Mediterranean, the president of Syria and the prime minister of Israel are to sit down at the same table for the first time.
But French officials say no group photo is planned. Expectations are low that a new spirit of friendship will blossom over canapes and toasts — either between those mutually suspicious Middle East neighbors or in other rivalries among the 40 or so leaders at the summit.
French President Sarkozy's ambitious pet project to join the nations around the Mediterranean Sea in a cooperative union based on shared projects has been so watered down over the past year that critics now deride it as "Club Med" — suggesting it will be big on blather and low on substance.
