DAMASCUS, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday congratulated Nicolas Sarkozy for his victory in the French presidential election, the official SANA news agency reported.

    "We send our congratulations and our best wishes of joy and good health, and we hope that relations between Syria and France can bear witness to a development that serves the interest of the two countries and their people," Assad said in a cable of congratulations.

    Sarkozy of the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement won the French presidential run-off on Sunday, scoring an easy victory over Segolene Royal of the left-wing Socialist Party.

    Sarkozy won over 53 percent of the vote against some 47 percent for Royal, who saw her chances of becoming France's first woman president dashed.

    Relations between France and Syria have deteriorated since the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafik Hariri in February 2005, which a UN probe has implicated senior Syrian security officials should be responsible for.

    Jacques Chirac, outgoing French president, has staunchly supported the Lebanese government against Syria and its localal lies in the Lebanese opposition, including the Shiite Hezbollah.

    Syria has denied any involvement in the Hariri killing, which, however, led to its troops withdrawal from Lebanon, ending a 29-military presence there.