http://jta.org/news/article/2009/07/05/1006319/assad-invites-obama-to-damascus
Assad, during a Friday interview with Sky News, said of Obama: “We would like to welcome him to Syria, definitely. I am very clear about this.”
“Any summit between any two presidents is something positive,” he told Sky News, according to Reuters, adding: “That doesn’t mean you have to agree about everything. But when you discuss, this is how we can close the gap.
The interview came as Assad sent an Independence Day telegram to Obama, which read, according to the Associated Press: “The values that were adopted by President Obama during his election campaign and after he was elected president are values that the world needs today.”… “It is very important to adopt the principle of dialogue in relations with countries based on respect and mutual interest.”