Syria Vows to Work Toward Mideast Talks

Syria welcomed the U.S.-Russian decision to reconvene Arab-Israeli peace talks in April and promised Friday to try to bring the Palestinians and other Arabs along as well.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh met with Secretary of State Warren Christopher here and offered his assistance in restarting the talks, Christopher said.

“Frankly, I asked for his support,” Christopher said. “He gave me assurance that his country will be helpful.”

Asked whether Shareh made a formal commitment that Syria would come to the talks, even if the Palestinians stay away, Christopher said, “I didn’t ask him that question, and I got no specific assurance.”

But he said the Syrian made it clear that his government wants the talks to resume.

Christopher and Russian Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev announced Thursday that they were inviting the Arabs and Israelis to a new round of talks after the secretary of state concluded that they all wanted the negotiations to resume.

Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinians suspended the talks in December after Israel expelled more than 400 Palestinians into Lebanon, accusing them of being members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two outlawed Islamic fundamentalist groups.

The Arab governments have since said they will accept a compromise that would allow the deportees to return gradually.

The Palestinians--who must consult with exiled leader Yasser Arafat, radical and moderate groups in the Palestine Liberation Organization and militant youth groups on the occupied West Bank--are still trying to decide whether to attend the next round of the peace talks.

Shareh and Christopher met in Brussels because the secretary of state was attending a North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting.