RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN MEETS WITH SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR ASSAD

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad before a meeting in Kremlin in Moscow on December 19, 2006. Putin on Tuesday hosted Syrian President Bashar Assad for talks focusing on tensions among the Palestinians, Lebanon's political standoff and the stalled Middle East peacemaking. (UPI Photo/Anatoli Zhdanov)