Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Thursday with the Syrian foreign minister at a summit here, the first formal encounter between the two countries’ top diplomats in more than three years.
Neither side claimed a major breakthrough from the talks, but American officials suggested other meetings with Syria could follow, an indication that the Bush administration may be shifting its policy of isolating a regime it considers a sponsor of terrorism.
Rice did not meet with Iran’s foreign minister, who also was present here for an international conference on Iraq.
“We haven’t planned, and have not asked for, a bilateral meeting, nor have they asked us,” said Rice, who described the meeting with her Syrian counterpart as “professional” and “businesslike.”
The meeting came nearly a month after the Bush administration chastised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for visiting Syria and meeting with President Bashar Assad.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, traveling with Rice, said the secretary of state had called Pelosi to discuss the conference and Pelosi’s trip to Damascus. He added that Rice defended the Bush administration’s attacks on Pelosi. McCormack also argued that there was a difference between the speaker talking to Assad about a broad range of issues and Rice meeting with her counterpart to say: “Your actions need to follow your words.”
Democrat fires back
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Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was part of Pelosi’s delegation in Syria, said Rice’s meeting Thursday undermined the Bush administration’s criticism of the speaker.
“This is a marked improvement to the administration’s ostrich policy approach, and a tacit admission of how wrong it was last month in criticizing the speaker of the House and congressional colleagues, including myself, for going to Damascus,” Lantos said in a statement.
Delegates from 60 countries are in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik to discuss how to halt sectarian violence in Iraq and to announce what is expected to be billions of dollars in aid and debt relief for Iraq.
Relations between the U.S. and Syria have been tense for years. U.S. officials have accused the Syrians of allowing foreign fighters to enter Iraq through their territory and have suggested Syrian involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Officials in Damascus have strongly denied both charges. The administration also has accused Syria of backing Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas in the Palestinian territories, both of which the State Department lists as terrorist organizations.
Accounts of talks differ
Despite that list of issues, Rice insisted she had discussed only matters related to Iraq.
“I didn’t lecture him; he didn’t lecture me,” Rice said. “The Syrians clearly say that stability in Iraq is in their interest, but actions will speak louder than words and we will have to see how this develops.”
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, however, told reporters that the two had discussed “bilateral relations,” in addition to Iraq. Rice and al-Moallem discussed the necessity of developing U.S.-Syrian ties “in a way that serves the achievement of peace, security and stability in the region,” according to Syria’s official news agency, SANA.
Meeting with Syria, but not Iran, also allowed Rice to placate Sunni Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, which has a growing economic stake in Syria and an interest in driving a wedge between Syria and Iran, which is predominantly Shiite.
U.S. officials said the Bush administration may send representatives to take part in upcoming low-level “technical” talks on border issues between Iraq and Syria. “We’re just going to take it as it goes and see what options present themselves,” said Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
Negotiations over debt relief for Iraq took on a sectarian hue Thursday. Before they make substantial aid pledges, Sunni countries want the Shiite-led Iraqi government to do more to protect Iraq’s Sunni minority.
Iraq owes about $140 billion to other countries, according to Sinan al-Shabibi, governor of Iraq’s central bank.
On Thursday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country still is in talks with Iraq about forgiving 80 percent of Iraq’s $17 billion owed to the kingdom. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, both Sunni-dominated countries, do not appear ready to forgive the debt owed to them, according to U.S. officials.