According to a high-ranking French diplomat, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s visit to Baba Amr, the former rebel stronghold in Homs that was recently taken by regime forces, points to the start of a new stage in the Syrian conflict.

In this phase, great powers may reconsider their calculations of the regime’s staying power, especially given that it has eliminated many armed anti-regime pockets.

The diplomat denied rumors that the French administration was opening communication with Assad and reconsidering its estimations on Syria, saying this would not happen as long as Assad did not translate his verbal commitment to U.N. envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan into action. To do this he would have to cease violence, withdraw his troops from heavily populated areas and increase the speed with which he releases detainees.

Confirming France’s interest in seeing Syria move to democracy, the diplomat addressed Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea’s call regarding the victories of Islamist parties in the Arab Spring to “let the Muslim brotherhood rule.” The diplomat said Geagea’s remark has moved from a slogan to a reality that is now being supported by states involved in the Arab Spring.

European sources spoke to The Daily Star about a similar subject – the West’s interest in opening serious dialogue with Islamist groups both in countries that have won elections and in countries still revolting.

The sources said the Vatican had shown signs of encouraging this path, and its officials had met with delegations from Islamist parties. Most recently, it met with the head of Tunisia’s Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, and spoke with him at a seminar organized by a Rome-based think tank.

These sources were surprised at what they called the “isolation” of some Christian groups from their Arab and Muslim surroundings, at a time when European emissaries were preparing for conferences in the Middle East with the aim of opening Christian-Islamic dialogue. Lebanon will likely play host to one of these meetings.

Sources say Italy, in coordination with the Vatican, will most likely send its minister for international cooperation and integration, Andrea Ricardi, to participate in these talks. The Daily Star has learned that whoever he or she is, the Italian delegate will present the Italian view that democracy and ensuring the protection of minorities are the truly effective methods for fighting terrorism.

The same European sources noted that Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai’s opinions have not been in harmony with those of Western states.

“The patriarch speaks about a dictatorship in Syria, and that the people have suffered from it,” one of the sources said. But no one comments on this, the source added, instead accusing the patriarch of defending the Syrian regime when he cautions against the possibility that chaos in Syria will negatively affect Lebanon.