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US urges Saudi, Syria to back direct Mideast peace talks

29 July 2010 19:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United States is urging King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to encourage the Palestinians to resume direct peace talks with Israel when they meet Thursday, APA reports quoting AFP.
"We hope that they will arrive at the conclusion that we have already drawn, which is the sooner we get into direct negotiations, the better," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters on Wednesday.
The Palestinians and Israelis, who have been holding indirect talks since May, broke off direct negotiations in December 2008 when the Jewish state launched a brief but bloody offensive against the Hamas militant group in Gaza.
Crowley said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke by telephone at the weekend with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud. She has also talked with her counterparts from other countries in the region, including Qatar and Jordan.
Saudi King Abdullah arrived in Syria on Thursday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on the eve of a joint mission to Lebanon aimed at containing political tensions there.
It will be Assad’s first visit to Lebanon since the 2005 assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, which soured ties between the two countries and forced the pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence.
Syria was widely believed to be involved in the killing but has consistently denied involvement.
The United States withdrew its ambassador to Damascus at the time, but President Barack Obama’s administration sent a top envoy back this year in a bid to engage Syria’s efforts for a comprehensive Middle East peace.
Its engagement policy is also aimed at driving a wedge between Syria and its longtime non-Arab ally Iran. Syria sides with Iran in backing anti-Israeli groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.