A visiting French senior official on Sunday expressed his country's desire to cooperate with Syria for the benefit and stability of the region, the official SANA news agency reported.

Philippe Marini, envoy of French President Nicholas Sarkozy, made the remarks while meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in which they discussed "constructive cooperation" between the two countries regarding the regional situation, said the report.

Marini, also a member of the French Senate and head of the Syrian-French Parliamentary Friendship Association, stressed that continuing coordination between the two sides "will help find suitable solutions to unresolved issues in the region due to Syria' s pivotal role in the Middle East and France's similar role in the European Union."

The two sides also discussed the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the tragic situation of the defenseless Palestinian people under the Israeli siege, underlining Europe's role in taking a stance regarding these crimes and working to lift the siege and open the crossing points, SANA said.

Israel carried out a 22-day military offensive on the Gaza Strip that ended on Sunday last week, after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire and announced that it had achieved most of the offensive goals on Gaza.

Official figures said that around 1,400 Palestinians were killed, most of them were civilians and 5,500 wounded. The offensive on Gaza left tens of thousands of homeless after around 5,000 homes were destroyed.

Source: Xinhua