Syria to take part in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

THE BUSH administration was able to declare a clean sweep yesterday when Syria, the last Arab world holdout, said it would attend this week’s high-stakes Middle East peace conference.

But as 16 Arab nations and the Arab League prepared to sit down with Israel for the first time in more than a decade, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni made it clear they should not expect to dictate the contours of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

League members grudgingly agreed a few days ago to send their foreign ministers to the conference, meant to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after a violent, seven-year lull in negotiations. Most members do not have ties with the Jewish state.

Syria had threatened to skip the three-day meetings in the US if they did not address the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured from Syria in 1967.

But with that issue added to the agenda, the deputy foreign minister, Faysal Mekdad, will participate, according to Syria’s state-run news agency. However, the absence of Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem appeared to indicate Syria was not entirely confident the conference would address its concerns over the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saw the appearance of a high-ranking Syrian official as a positive development.

“The meetings are clearly about the Israeli-Palestinian process, but could be the beginning of new avenues to peace in the Middle East,” said the prime minister’s spokeswoman, Miri Eisin.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said the US would give room for other regional conflicts to be aired at the conference, including the Golan Heights. “If Syria chooses to come and wants to speak about its issues... certainly nobody is going to rule it out of order,” she said.

Even before Syria’s announcement, Ms Livni expressed confidence that Syria would attend. On the flight to Washington with Ms Livni, Mr Olmert said Israel would “favourably” consider talks with Syria if conditions ripened. Israel first wants Syria to break out of Iran’s orbit and stop harbouring Palestinian and Lebanese militants opposed to Israel’s existence.

Ms Livni suggested a lack of Arab backing contributed to the failure of the last Israeli-Palestinian talks, which collapsed amid bloodshed in 2001. The Arab world, she said, “should stop sitting on the fence”.

“There isn’t a single Palestinian who can reach an agreement without Arab support,” she said. But, she added, “it is not the role of the Arab world to define the terms of the negotiations or take part in them”.

Arab states had been reluctant to attend the gathering, which starts today in Washington. They feared it would give Israel a public-relations boost while yielding little political benefit for Palestinians.