France's Macron in first post-Assad visit to Damascus: why the Syria stopover?

As Iran buries its Supreme Guide who was killed last February, and Hamas started to disarm in Gaza, Emmanuel Macron is going to Damascus, for the first visit of a French President since Nicolas Sarkozy met the deposed President Bachar Al-Assad in 2009. The timing of this visit raises questions, as well as the objectives of the French President when meeting his Syrian counterpart Ahmed Al-Shareh.