Syria to Resume Israeli Contacts After Long Break
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BEIRUT — Damascus will resume contacts with Israel in Washington after a 10-month deadlock in their peace talks, Syria’s foreign minister said Friday.
Farouk Shareh’s comments marked a shift in Syria’s position. Damascus has repeatedly refused to resume talks unless Secretary of State Warren Christopher’s shuttle diplomacy produces progress. Christopher visited the region this week.
Shareh said he expects the United States, co-sponsor of the Mideast peace process, to make an announcement soon about an “exchange of ideas” between small Syrian and Israeli delegations. The exchange could set the stage for the resumption of full-scale talks.
Shareh spoke at Beirut’s airport, where he arrived with a message from Syrian President Hafez Assad for his Lebanese counterpart, Elias Hrawi.
Robert Pelletreau, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for Near East affairs, was also in Lebanon to brief Lebanese leaders on Christopher’s latest talks in Syria and Israel.
The visit was the first by a senior U.S. envoy to Lebanon in more than a year and underlined Washington’s interest in advancing Lebanon-Israel negotiations. Those talks stalled after negotiations between Israel and Syria, Lebanon’s de facto power, broke down in February.
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