France has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend its national holiday celebrations next month after a Mediterranean summit in Paris, an official at the French presidency said Thursday.

Assad is among 50 heads of state and government invited to the July 13 summit on the launch of a new Mediterranean Union, championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy as France takes over the rotating EU presidency.

"Of course all of these heads of state have been invited to stay for the July 14 ceremonies", which include a military parade on the Champs Elysees with former U.N. chief Kofi Annan as this year's guest of honor, the official said.

Syria for almost three decades was the powerbroker in Lebanon, a longtime focal point of French interest in the Middle East.

Paris has moved to re-launch top-level contacts with Syria following the election of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman last month, which put an end to months of sectarian strife in the country.

Visiting Beirut last week, Sarkozy said a "new page may be opening in relations between France and Syria."

France and the United States have accused Syria, through its supporters in the Lebanese opposition, of meddling in Beirut's political life, a charge denied by Damascus.

Syria's culture minister, Riad Naassan Agha, was in Paris Tuesday on the first visit by a Syrian government member in three years, confirming the thaw in relations.

Sarkozy's move to resume ties met with a cautious reaction from Washington. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday she hoped Paris would send the right message to Damascus, both on Lebanon and on relations with Israel.(AFP-Naharnet)