Insider : Baker Aide, Ex-Envoy to Syria, Pushes Doors Open in Mideast : * Edward P. Djerejian, an assistant secretary of state, knows the region and the players. He’s become one of the top U.S. strategists in the peace process.

If U.S.-brokered negotiations ever succeed in making peace between Israel and Syria, historians may judge that a key turning point came in the summer of 1988 when a new U.S. ambassador presented his credentials to Syrian President Hafez Assad.

For years, as the Washington-Damascus relationship swung on a very short axis from outright hostility to chilly diplomatic toleration, U.S. ambassadors were denied almost all access to top Syrian government officials and had to rely on cocktail-party gossip to fill out their cables to Washington.

The new ambassador, Edward P. Djerejian, realizing that the formal credential ceremony might be his only chance to talk directly to Assad, bluntly told the Syrian leader that he had not come to Damascus to relax by the side of the pool at his official residence and sift through second- and third-hand information. He emphasized that it would be better for both Syria and the United States if Washington’s representative could find out what was going on in Syria from top Syrian officials.

Assad, regarded by friend and foe as one of the shrewdest politicians in the Middle East, immediately decided to change course. He told an aide to see to it that Djerejian got the appointments he needed. The diplomatic freeze had just thawed.

In the three years that followed Djerejian’s first contact with Assad, U.S.-Syria relations were transformed. When it comes to principles and ideals, the two countries still have almost nothing in common. But they have adopted a pragmatic approach that cleared the way for a solution to Lebanon’s bloody civil war, brought Syria into the Gulf War as an American ally and sent a Syrian delegation to the recent Middle East peace talks in Madrid.

Now Djerejian, back in Washington as assistant secretary of state for the Near East and South Asia, has joined one of the capital’s most exclusive clubs--the inner circle of Secretary of State James A. Baker III. Unlike John Kelly, his predecessor in the assistant secretary post, Djerejian has become one of Baker’s two top peace process strategists, along with Dennis Ross, the department’s chief of policy planning who previously had the job pretty much to himself.

According to insiders, Djerejian and Ross direct a small cadre of experts assigned to the Middle East peace process. Except for subjects so sensitive that Baker must make the decisions himself, Djerejian and Ross are the final authorities.

Although Djerejian’s arrival would seem to have diluted Ross’s position, State Department officials and outside experts say the two men work closely together with no apparent rivalry.

“Baker and Dennis trust him,” said a non-government Middle East expert who is close to Ross. “Baker keeps his inner circle very tight. But the way in which Ed handled Assad in the crucial period before Assad agreed to attend the peace conference made a big impression on Baker.

“Ed is very savvy politically,” the expert added. “One of the reasons that you get only positive vibes from people is that he is a great shmoozer. He is a very smooth customer.”

Djerejian, 52, is a career foreign service officer with remarkably well-honed political instincts. From July, 1985, until August, 1986, he was assigned to the White House press office as presidential spokesman for foreign affairs. By all accounts, his relationship with the chief White House spokesman, Larry Speakes, was not a smooth one. But the stint gave him an inside look at the White House and brought him into close contact with then-Vice President George Bush.

Djerejian is a sharp contrast with Kelly, his predecessor. The former assistant secretary was clearly cut from Baker’s inner group, a situation that some officials complained meant that the department’s entire regional bureau was kept on the sidelines.

One former State Department official, who declined to be identified by name, said Kelly was selected because he would not challenge Ross and the inner group.

Raised in the Queens section of New York by immigrant parents from the troubled Armenian region of Turkey, Djerejian did not learn English until he entered kindergarten. Now he is fluent in French, Russian and Arabic in addition to English and Armenian.

At Madrid, Djerejian was one of the few American delegates who listened to speeches in Arabic without using the simultaneous translation earphones.

“He is going to prove to be a more active participant in the peace process than his predecessor,” said William B. Quandt, a former National Security Council expert on the Middle East.

“He has a particularly strong experience in Syria, and Syria will be an important player,” Quandt, now a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution in Washington, added. “My impression is that Baker doesn’t want to make eight more trips (to the Middle East) in the next eight weeks. He will leave some of it to Dennis (Ross) and Djerejian.”

By background, Djerejian would seem to fit the profile of what Israel and its American supporters disparagingly call “State Department Arabists.” Djerejian has served in diplomatic posts in Lebanon, Morocco and Jordan in addition to Syria. He also was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in the Soviet Union.

Nevertheless, Israel has not questioned Djerejian’s impartiality. So far, at least, Djerejian’s experience in Syria is regarded as a definite asset.

“Ed definitely strengthens the team that is dealing with the peace process because he brings to it a knowledge of the Syrians,” said Martin Indyk, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Since the Syrians are, for better or worse, inside the peace process, that is very important. He knows, as well as anyone can know, how Hafez Assad approaches peace negotiations with Israel.”

Djerejian also earns very high marks from two former State Department officials who were once his bosses.

Joseph Sisco, who served both as assistant secretary of state for the Near East and as undersecretary of state for political affairs during the era when Henry A. Kissinger ran the department, said Djerejian “is decisive; he is not afraid to make decisions; he is proactive, not passive.” Djerejian was Sisco’s special assistant from 1975 to 1977.

Richard Murphy, assistant secretary for the Near East in the Reagan Administration, said Djerejian exhibits “a remarkable energy and sense of humor. He is a deadly serious fellow but with a lightness of spirit.” Djerejian was Murphy’s principal deputy in 1987 and 1988.

“He hasn’t served in Israel, but he has a broad and detailed acquaintance with the issues of the whole region,” Murphy said. “He communicates a warmth which is terribly important in dealing with Israelis as well as with Arabs.”

Although Djerejian, who was deputy State Department spokesman before going to the White House, has had far more experience in dealing with the public than the average career diplomat, he has never permitted his personal views to interfere with advocating Administration policy.

“I don’t think that any of us, at least outside (the government’s inner circles), knows how he stands on substantive issues,” Quandt said. At least for the time being, that impartiality is regarded as an important plus.

Diplomatic Resume

Name: Edward Peter Djerejian

Title: Assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs.

Personal: Born March 6, 1939, in New York City. Earned bachelor’s of science degree from Georgetown University in 1960. First lieutenant, U.S. Army, 1961-62. Married Francoise Liliane Haelters in 1971; they have a son and a daughter.

Career: Staff assistant to secretary of state, 1963-64; political officer at American Embassy in Beirut, 1965-69; political/labor officer at American Consulate General, Casablanca, Morocco, 1969-72; special assistant to undersecretary of state, Washington, 1973-75; principal officer at American Consulate General, Bordeaux, France, 1975-77; chief of external affairs in political section at American Embassy, Moscow, 1979-81; deputy chief of mission at American Embassy, Amman, Jordan, 1981-84; deputy spokesman and deputy assistant secretary, State Department, Washington, 1984-85; special assistant to the President and deputy press secretary for foreign affairs, 1985-86; deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, 1986-88; ambassador to Damascus, Syria, 1988-1991.