STOCKHOLM, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The European Union is close to
agreeing an offer to Syria of closer ties, the 27-country bloc's
commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
said on Friday.
    An association agreement between Syria and the EU has been
held up by Dutch concerns about the Middle Eastern country's
human rights record.
    "Engaging with Syria is absolutely in our interest,"
Ferrero-Waldner told journalists at a meeting of EU foreign
ministers in Stockholm.
    "I would say that we are coming to an agreement. There are
still some modalities that have to be found, there are some
reserves ... but I am confident that in the near future we will
get this agreement really going."
    A rapprochement could help liberalise Syria's economy and
improve its image after being treated as a pariah state by
several Western countries because of its role in Lebanon and
Iraq and support for militant groups.
    Similar deals have been signed between the EU and Arab
countries and between the EU and Israel.
    Ferrero-Waldner said the EU should keep Syria's actions
under scrutiny, but should also encourage the country to respect
human rights, the rule of law and to be a positive influence in
the Middle East.
    She said an agreement would not only set out a framework for
cooperation but would also contain a number of obligations.
    "In my view it is certainly not a gift if we give that to
Syria, but it is a possibility for a contractual agreement with
Syria, so I am very much in favour and I do hope this will go
on."
 (Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Janet Lawrence)