J'lem not opposed to US-Syrian talks

Israeli official: Syrians putting out all kinds of feelers to set things in motion before upcoming elections.

By HERB KEINON
Assad 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
Assad 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Jerusalem has no problem with the US engaging with Damascus in a dialogue, a senior Israeli diplomatic official said Thursday, in response to two US-Syrian meetings held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York earlier this week. "The Syrians are putting out all kinds of feelers to the US to set things in motion before the upcoming elections," the official said. "Damascus has already gotten credit for engaging in indirect talks with Israel and is now trying to capitalize on that with the Americans." US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke for 10 minutes with Syrian Foreign Minister Wallid Muallem at a dinner with Arab foreign ministers on Sunday. The next day she dispatched her top adviser, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, for a more lengthy meeting with Muallem. CNN quoted a State Department official as saying that at the Welch-Muallem meeting, the two traded long-standing grievances, and also discussed Washington's support for Israeli-Syrian peace talks, Syria's role in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, and its ties to Iran. According to CNN, Welch raised continuing US concerns about Syrian behavior in Lebanon and warned that Syria should not use last weekend's bombing of a military facility in Damascus as a pretext to justify military action in northern Lebanon. Syrian President Bashar Assad said earlier this week that northern Lebanon has become a security risk. Welch, according to the CNN report, also said Syria should play a more positive role in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations and stop supporting Palestinian terrorist groups. He also raised the issue of Syria's strategic relationship with Iran. It is precisely here, according to Israeli officials, that a US dialogue with Syria could be productive. According the Israeli official, Israel realizes that if the west wants to move Syria out of Iran's orbit, the US will have to play a more active role in Israel's negotiations with Syria in general, as well as increase its own dialogue with Damascus. In a related development, Israeli officials confirmed that Israeli and Palestinian officials would brief members of the Quartet in November on the progress in their negotiations. The officials, however, said this was a far cry from a second Annapolis conference, but was merely a way for both sides to report on where the negotiations are at present, without committing themselves to anything in writing. Although Egypt has been mentioned as a possible site for the meeting, nothing has been confirmed.