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.