SYRIA MAY resume indirect talks with Tel Aviv if Israel’s upcoming elections bring forth a government willing to reach a comprehensive peace deal, Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Muallem said yesterday.
Syria formally broke off negotiations with Israel during last month’s military assault on Gaza.
The talks, which began under Turkish mediation last May, had already been put on hold following the resignation of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in September. Asked by The Irish Times yesterday if Damascus would consider reviving the indirect contacts, Mr Muallem replied: “If Israel proves after its elections that whoever comes to power has the will for a just and comprehensive peace through executing United Nations Security Council resolutions, then that would warrant another assessment.”
Israel is due to hold parliamentary elections on February 10th. However, the Syrian foreign minister warned that the three-week offensive in Gaza last month had hardened Arab public opinion against Israel.
“The people of our region are no longer enthusiastic about the peace process.
“Their priority now is to reduce the suffering of Gaza’s people through the lifting of the blockade, the opening of crossing points, reconstruction and consolidation of the ceasefire,” he said.
Asked by The Irish Times if Syria was optimistic about how US foreign policy in the Middle East may play out under the Obama administration, Mr Muallem said it would take a year to find out.
“People in this region become sometimes optimistic when a new American president comes along only to be disappointed later.
“But this administration will definitely not be worse than the one of Bush regarding our region,” he added.
During a joint press conference with Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin in Damascus yesterday, Mr Muallem referred on several occasions to the fact that Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell did not visit Syria on his recent trip to the region.
However, Mr Martin stressed the importance of Mr Mitchell’s new role and praised the part he played in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Meanwhile, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad called for increased European involvement in the Middle East during a meeting with Mr Martin yesterday.
“Assad underlined the importance of activating the European role in the region to help find appropriate solutions to the problems it faces,” the news agency reported.