DAMASCUS - Chairman of the Change and Reform Bloc at the Lebanese Parliament Michel Aoun on Thursday met a number of businessmen and members of Damascus Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
Talks during the meeting dealt with the necessity of working together to achieve economic integration between Syria and Lebanon to face impacts of the global financial crisis and find necessary means to keep the Syrian and Lebanese economies away of this crisis bad repercussion.
General Aoun also met a number of Islamic scholars in the presence of the Endowments' Minister Mohammad Abdul-Satar al-Sayyed and Syria's Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun.
During the meeting, both sides underlined the need for boosting the culture of openness to the others, calling for collective working and dismissing attempts of sedition and division.
Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal al-Mikdad attended the two meetings.
Earlier, Chairman of the Free Patriotic Movement General Aoun visited the Umayyad great Mosque in Damascus, listening to a detailed explanation on its history and the restoration processes made to it.
Minister of Endowments welcomed the visit of General Aoun, hailing his national and principled stances. The Minister handed to Aoun a copy of the Holy Quran and a Damascene gown.
Later, Aoun and the accompanying delegation toured Souq al-Hamedyya in old Damascus amid hundreds of people who gathered to greet Mr. Aoun. Deputy
Foreign Minister Fayssal al-Mikdad accompanied General Aoun during his tour.
By Mazen
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2008
