Report: Syria wants peace talks resumed

President Assad seeking to renew negotiations in bid to deflect international pressure over killing of former Lebanese prime minister, British paper says

Syria is seeking to renew peace negotiations with Israel, in a bid to head off international sanctions over its role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Syria has engaged in secret talks with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan during a summit of the Islamic Conference Organization in Mecca, where it was urged to renew the bilateral talks with Israel.

Syrian president Bashar Assad was not present at the summit, but the country was represented by senior diplomats.

The proposal is part of an initiative to revive the Saudi plan for comprehensive peace in the Middle East made public in 2002. The Saudi
proposal was on the summit's closed door sessions' agenda on Wednesday, according to an Arab official.

Arab diplomats explained the unexpected revival of the peace initiative with Syria's wish to deflect international pressures ahead of the publication of the United Nation's final report on the killing of the Lebanese PM, set to be presented before the U.N. Security Council next Thursday. If the report implicates Syria in Hariri's assassination, the country may face punitive action that will risk Bashar Assad's rule.

"Syria would go along with almost anything at this point," a senior Arab diplomat said on Wednesday. "They are looking for any leeway. They do not want to be penalized like Libya or Iraq. They are definitely looking for a way out of this mess."

However, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated last week that Israel is not eager to resume talks with Syria.
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Perhaps this is some good news for a change - Elijah