British government has vehemently defended Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to invite Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and rejected criticism, mainly from traditionally pro-Israel British personalities as baseless and narrow-minded.

The Syrian president, his British-born and brought up wife Asma Al Akhras, and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al Shara'a are due to arrive tomorrow for a three-day official visit, which is already being described as almost state visit.

Assad, first Syrian head of state to visit UK, will be given royal treatment. He will be granted an audience with the Queen and Crown Prince Charles and will be specially entertained by Mayor of London at the majestic banquet of City of London Guild Hall.

The Syrian president will hold talks with Blair and Al Shara'a will have separate round of talks with his British counterpart Jack Straw.

A separate programme is specially designed for Syria's First Lady during the visit.

Spearheaded by the British Jewish Board of Deputies, an organised campaign by professional public relations company, tried, but failed to sway Blair from offering warm welcome to his Syrian guest. The government also rejected claims that Syria aids terrorism and violates human rights.

On this and other accusations, the government have launched a counter-attack to silence the criticism and explain the significance of engaging Syria for the region peace stability and described Assad as a man of peace, coexistence and modernity.

A number of government officials have been briefing journalists on the visit explaining why UK-Syria relations are important, why Syria matters and how the country is changing under the young Assad leadership.

"Syria matters because it strongly influences the Arab opinion," senior official sources told Gulf News. "It also has a seat on the UN Security Council and is central to efforts to secure a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arabs," the sources said.

"Our relationship is important. We both want to invest time and effort into it. We do not pretend to agree on every issue, but there is much we can, and do, achieve together. Therefore, a candid dialogue is better than no dialogue at all."

The sources listed issues where the two countries are in full agreement, including Iraq, the occupied Golan Heights, fight against terrorism and political and economic reforms in Syria.

On terrorism, the sources said Syria condemned the 9/11 attacks and "we both agree that threat posed by Al Qaida must be combated," they said. "Osama bin Laden is no friend of the Syrian government."

The British government is very pleased at the level of cooperation between the two countries in fighting terrorism. The sources said: "There is increased liaison between our respective intelligence agencies in the fight against Al Qaida and international terrorism."

Officials in Whitehall also praise Syria's responsible and far-sighted position taken at the security council last month when voting on Resolution 1441 and Damascus consistency.

"The Syrians want Saddam's weapons of mass destruction capacity eliminated through UN action and we want this too, they voted for 1441 and they were part of the allied coalition to liberate Kuwait in 1991," the sources said.

On human rights record, the British government believes Syria is changing and welcomes the recent release, under a presidential amnesty, of the prominent advocate for civil society Riad Al Turk as well the release of several hundred other political prisoners and the closure of Mezzeh and Tadmur prisons associated with incarceration of political prisoners, in the last 2 years.

The British officials highlighted what they described as significant reform and change in Syria. They said Bashar Al Assad inherited an authoritarian state, a command economy, a set of radical, often anti-western, foreign policies that he wishes to move away from.

Britain is encouraged by the reform measures taken so far such as new legislation which allows foreign banks to operate in Syria for the first time, the move to reform public administration and the adoption of IT strategy designed specifically for Syria.

Bilaterally, UK is working with Syria to help it modernise, according to the sources. Referring to his strong links with the UK, the sources said the Syrian president ived and studied here, his wife was born and brought up here and his parents-in-law remain here.