The Washington Post seems to think that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syrian President Bashar Assad has been a diplomatic triumph. Lately relations between the United States and Syria have been under something of a strain, particularly after the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, which almost everybody blames on Syria. But in today's news the Post implies, maybe all that is changing.
Pelosi met Assad at his palace overlooking the Syrian capital, then joined him for lunch at a restored house in Damascus's historic district, news agencies reported. During the talks, Pelosi said she conveyed a message to Assad from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that Israel was ready to resume peace talks that collapsed in March 2000. She reiterated U.S. demands that Syria stop the passage of insurgents across Syria into Iraq and stop supporting militant groups.
"We were very pleased with the reassurances we received from the president that he was ready to resume the peace process," she told reporters in Damascus after the talks. "He was ready to engage in negotiations for peace with Israel." Pelosi was scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia after the meeting.
However, shortly after Madame Pelosi assured Assad of Israel readiness to resume peace talks, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a "clarification". It seems the Madame didn't get it exactly right.
The Prime Minister's Office issued a rare "clarification" Wednesday that, in gentle diplomatic terms, contradicted US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's statement in Damascus that she had brought a message from Israel about a willingness to engage in peace talks.
According to the statement, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert emphasized in his meeting with Pelosi on Sunday that "although Israel is interested in peace with Syria, that country continues to be part of the Axis of Evil and a force that encourages terror in the entire Middle East."
Olmert, the statement clarified, told Pelosi that Syria's sincerity about a genuine peace with Israel would be judged by its willingness to "cease its support of terror, cease its sponsoring of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations, refrain from providing weapons to Hizbullah and bringing about the destabilizing of Lebanon, cease its support of terror in Iraq, and relinquish the strategic ties it is building with the extremist regime in Iran."
The statement said Olmert had not communicated to Pelosi any change in Israeli policy on Damascus.
In fact, according to officials in the Prime Minister's Office, Olmert told Pelosi that he thought her trip to Damascus was a mistake. But not to be deterred, Pelosi asked if Olmert had a message for Assad. The message, said Olmert, is to stop supporting terrorism and "act like a normal country," and only then would Israel be willing to hold discussions.
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