Private Bush-Assad Talks : Gulf Session Runs Longer Than Expected

President Bush and Syrian President Hafez Assad talked for more than two hours at a meeting here today to discuss the Persian Gulf crisis, and then went into a private session with no aides present, White House officials said.

It was the first summit meeting in 13 years between the United States and Syria, hitherto suspicious of each other’s Middle East policies, but now allies confronting Iraq following its Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait.

Officials said initially the presidents’ meeting was due to last two hours, but the talks overran this schedule. The private session that followed was expected to last about 15 minutes, officials said.

Assad has opposed Bush’s call for a possible military strike against Saddam Hussein.

“We have divergent points of view on some issues,” Assad told reporters before the start of their scheduled two-hour talk. “We will discuss a number of problems.”

Assad has said Syria wants Iraqi forces out of Kuwait but opposes use of force. He maintains that Syrian troops were sent to Saudi Arabia only to help U.S.-led multinational forces defend that country.

The hastily called meeting between the two leaders capped an eight-day European and Middle East tour by Bush, seeking global support for possible military force to free Kuwait of Iraqi troops.

Syria, a longtime adversary of the United States, is a hard-line Arab state accused by the State Department of sponsoring terrorism. It has pledged to send 15,000 troops to the multinational force, however.

Bush, who met earlier today in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, brushed off criticism from Israel for his decision to become the first U.S. President to meet with a Syrian leader since Jimmy Carter did so in 1977.

“I have no problem sitting down with him,” Bush said. “This relates to the reversal of aggression, not only in the interest of the United States but to every country in the Middle East, and that includes Israel.

“Mr. Assad is lined up with us on the commitment of force,” Bush said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have differences with Syria . . . but (Syrians) will be on the front line.”

The meeting was arranged this week at the urging of Arab leaders.

Edward Djerejian, U.S. ambassador to Damascus, who traveled with Bush to Geneva from Cairo, was asked by reporters if the United States is making Assad look like an ally in instituting the unusual face-to-face talks with him.

Djerejian replied, “Where there are mutual interests, we work together.” He cited the Persian Gulf and Lebanon, where Syria has had troops since 1975.

Although relations between the United States and Syria remain strained, they have thawed noticeably since Assad committed troops to protect Saudi Arabia from a possible attack by Iraq.

The Syrian government has joined other Arab nations in condemning Iraq but has distanced itself from suggestions that military action may have to be taken to end Iraq’s nearly 4-month-old occupation of Kuwait.

Bush was expected to ask Assad how Syria would react in case of a war between U.S.-led forces and Iraq. He was also likely to seek help in obtaining the release of six American hostages thought to be held in Beirut.

The President and Mubarak, after their 2 1/2-hour talk, both expressed support for possible military force against Iraq.

Bush said he and Mubarak have not given up on a peaceful solution, but added, “We are getting tired of the status quo, and so is the rest of the world.”