by Jia Xiaohua

    DAMASCUS, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Syria, continuously blacklisted by Washington as a state sponsoring terrorism, witnessed a dramatic year in 2008 as it broke out of a diplomatic isolation caused by its accused role in the slaying of Lebanon's ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and opened up new horizons over its diplomacy.

    During the year, Damascus mended ties with Europe, particularly France and Britain, normalized relations with its small neighbor, Lebanon, for the first time in history, and embarked on new rounds of indirect peace talks with Israel under the Turkish mediation.

    CHANGE: BREAKOUT OF ISOLATION

    At the beginning of the year, the overall atmosphere seemed rather gloomy for Syria. The West still blamed it for the Hariri assassination, though it insisted innocence, and its alleged negative role in Lebanon's worst political crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war.

    Damascus was criticized for its support for Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement, a leading bloc of the Lebanese opposition, which was vying for power with the parliamentary majority backed by the United States and its regional ally Saudi Arabia, after former President Emile Lahoud ended his term in November 2007.

    The dispute over Lebanon led to a low turn-out at the Arab summit Syria hosted in March, boycotted by regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which only sent low-level representatives to Damascus. Lebanon went even far by sending nobody here.

    Things, however, changed after rival Lebanese parties secured an agreement in Doha in May leading to the election of Michel Suleiman as president and establishment of a new government. Damascus was deemed to have played a constructive role in nailing down the pact.

    On the other hand, the Syrian-Israeli track made headway, if not a breakthrough, when the two sides confirmed simultaneously in May that they have started indirect peace talks under Ankara's mediation after an eight-year rupture of direct negotiations.

    Syria's positions were welcomed by European leaders including French President Nicolas Sarkozy who voiced consent of the "positive role" played by Syria in the Lebanese file and invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to visit Paris in July to attend a summit of the European Union (EU) and countries around the Mediterranean.

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