SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt - The United States and Syria could hold their first substantive high-level talks in years as early as today, energizing an international gathering on IraqÂ’s future.
Syria, branded a state sponsor of terrorism and accused of allowing terrorists to operate across its border into Iraq, has been eager to rekindle relations with the United States. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated she may be open to the idea.
| Anything, anything to get the world's attention off the Hariri inquiry. |
“Wouldn’t rule it out,” Rice said when asked about meeting with Syria’s foreign minister, a former ambassador to Washington. “We’ll see who’s there and what conversations take place.”
| Perhaps you could read the Syrians the riot act, Condi? Just a suggestion. |
Rice said sheÂ’s also willing to talk with IranÂ’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki. Relations with Iran have been frozen since the 1979 storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Iran is also listed correctly by the United States as a major state sponsor of terrorism, and accused of arming, training and financing terrorists who have killed U.S. soldiers and Iraqis. So far, the Bush administration rejected calls for direct talks with both Syria and Iran.
“If we encounter each other, then I’m certainly planning to be polite, to see what that encounter brings,” Rice said of a potential discussion with Mottaki.
| I'm certain you could insult his mustache politely. |
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday Tehran would welcome talks with the United States on the sidelines of the conference, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. “The Iranian nation welcomes honest dialogue,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Iran. But he said it would be a mistake to think the United States could pressure Iran into rolling back its nuclear program with dialogue.
| We pretty much knew that, which is why Pentagon planners are busy these days ... |
The two-day conference is expected to bring together officials from Iraq, the United States, Iran, Russia, China, Europe and Arab nations to talk about IraqÂ’s economic and political stability. No U.S. officials would outline specific plans for informal sessions with Syria or Iran, but any contact would probably not be as casual as Rice suggested. Even a brief encounter would probably come only after careful behind-the-scenes orchestration. |