The president of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, left Washington last night after his first official meeting with US president Barack Obama.

The meeting in the Oval Office was described as 'very cordial' and both Obama and Zapatero confirmed afterwards that they have built up a 'firm friendship' and that they saw many opportunities to work together in the face of the economic crisis, climate change issues and national security.

For his part, Zapatero offered full collaboration with the US towards rebuilding a safe and secure Afghanistan and Obama thanked Zapatero for the 'important contribution' that Spain is making there and in other areas of the globe.  With the aid of interpreters, they also talked about imminent closure of Guantánamo, in which Spain is due to collaborate by accepting some of the prisoners, the situation in the Middle East and the Iranian arms race.
 
Zapatero confirmed that "the Spanish people are very happy and satisfied to see such a positive relationship between the two countries" and Obama underlined the "centuries-old" links between them and their roles in the NATO alliance.

Zapatero is now in Syria, the first stop on his tour of the Middle East, which will include Israel, the Palestine territories, Jordan and the Lebanon, where Spanish troops are still deployed.  His visit to Syria is the first by a Spanish president since July 1999.

Zapatero will be meeting with the Syrian president, Bachar al Asad, to see for himself whether there is any possibility of a rapprochement between Syria and Israel, which is key to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.  Syria and Israel currently maintain indirect contact via Turkey with the aim of resolving the future of the Golan Heights, an area of disputed sovereignty, under Israeli control since the Six Day War in 1967.

The Spanish president is hopeful that closer links between Syria and both the United States and the European Union could help change the political landscape in the region and be decisive in the question of Iran.