US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem Thursday during a regional conference in Sharm e-Sheikh in the first high-level talks between the two countries in years. Government sources in Jerusalem said there was nothing in the talks that needed to concern Jerusalem. According to these officials, the reason for the talks was the legitimate US concern over Iraq, and Israel doesn't see anything negative in the US wanting to talk about issues like Iraq and Islamic radicalism with Syria. Asked if there was any concern that the US would be open to paying for Syrian cooperation on Iraq in Israeli currency, one senior official said, "Not this US administration."
But the official admitted that the meeting did represent a change in US policy, which for the last few years had been to isolate Damascus. The official said Israel was "not taken by surprise" by the meeting. "They tried to ostracize Damascus, and that didn't work," the official said. "So now they are meeting, but this does not represent negotiations."
The official said the meeting would not change Israel's position toward talks with Syria, which is that there was no reason in entering negotiations with Syria until Damascus stopped actively supporting Hamas and Hizbullah, and kicked out the terrorist organization headquarters - including those of Hamas - based in Damascus.
A US military spokesman in Baghdad said ahead of the Rice-Muallem meeting that Syria had taken action on stemming the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq - a chief demand of the United States. "There has been some movement by the Syrians," Maj.-Gen. William Caldwell told a news conference. "There has been a reduction in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq" for more than a month.
The Bush administration has shunned Syria, accusing it of fueling tensions in Iraq and Lebanon. It sharply criticized a visit to Damascus last month by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But the White House has been under pressure to open dialogue with Syria and Iran.
Still, a substantive US-Iran meeting appeared less certain. The Iraqi government is pressing for Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to hold talks during the gathering, saying Washington's conflict with Teheran is only fueling the instability in Iraq. Rice and Mottaki "exchanged pleasantries" over lunch, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said. "They said hello, that's about it," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Both the US and Iran had also spoken favorably of a possible meeting, but the chances for that remained unclear, and neither side had commented publicly on any immediate arrangements. Rice and Muallem were seen by journalists entering bilateral talks on the sidelines of Thursday's conference. Earlier, Muallem had confirmed the two would meet, and a senior US State Department official said they would discuss "Iraqi security issues."
Baghdad and the US hope Thursday's and Friday's conference of nearly 50 nations will rally strong international support - particularly from Arab nations - for an ambitious plan to stabilize war-torn Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened the conference by urging all countries to forgive his country's enormous foreign debts - estimated at approximately $50 billion. Another $100b. has already been written off by the Paris Club of lender nations. But Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal made no immediate public pledge, saying only that his country was in talks with Iraq and would consider such forgiveness.