Martin meets Syrian president in mideast tour

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Micheál Martin will sit down with the president of Syria today during the first stage of a diplomatic tour of the Middle East.

Mr Martin will meet President Bashar al Assad and with the country’s senior Sunni Muslim cleric at separate events in Damascus.

On Tuesday, he will travel to Lebanon where he will visit Irish troops serving on United Nations peacekeeping duty in an area still recovering from a war three years ago.