Four French lawmakers meet Assad in Syria: MP

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

Four French lawmakers who say they are on a private visit to Syria, despite a breakdown in diplomatic ties between Paris and Damascus, met with President Bashar al-Assad Wednesday, one of them told AFP.
      
"We met Bashar al-Assad for a good hour. It went very well," Jacques Myard, an MP who belongs to the conservative opposition UMP party, said in a telephone interview. He refused to reveal the content of the talks.
      
The group of lawmakers include MPs and senators from both the left and the right.
      
"It's a personal mission to see what is going on, to hear, listen," Myard said earlier.
      
The French foreign ministry has said the visit has nothing to do with the government.
      
"The lawmakers do not carry any official message," said spokesman Alexandre Giorgini.