Social Democrat leader meets Syrian president

The head of the Czech Republic’s largest opposition party, Jiří Paroubek, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today, as part of a week-long visit to the country. The Social Democrats chairman has rejected criticism by PM Mirek Topolánek that the visit is at odds with current Czech foreign policy, pointing out that both the Slovak and Austrian presidents had recently visited the country. Mr Paroubek’s visit is intended to strengthen economic and political ties between the Czech Republic and Syria.