New Delhi - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday arrived in India on a five-day visit during which the two countries are expected to enhance bilateral relations and sign several agreements, officials said.

This is the first visit to India by Assad and the first by a Syrian president in nearly three decades. Assad's father, then- president Hafez al-Assad, visited Delhi in 1978.

The Syrian leader was greeted at the international airport in the Indian capital New Delhi by India's Junior Foreign Affairs Minister E Ahamed.

New Delhi, June 17 : Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will arrive here this evening on a five-day visit.

On Wednesday, President al-Assad will be accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

On the same day, Vice President Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition L K Advani will call on the visiting dignitary.

Later in the day, President al-Assad is slated to meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and both countries are expected to sign agreements.

Jerusalem  - Syrian President Bashar Assad should prove he is serious about negotiating a peace deal with Israel by holding direct talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem and Damascus, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Monday.

Israel Radio quoted the 84-year-old president as saying that Peres said that all Arab leaders who signed peace treaties with Israel - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Jordan's King Hussein - had met directly with Israeli leaders, in order to expedite the processes and to shorten the gaps.

Berlin  - A coup plot against Syrian President Bashar