In the latest attempt to kick start negotiations aimed at bringing peace to the Middle East, U.S envoy for the region George Mitchell has paid his second visit to the Syrian capital Damascus within a month.
Mr Mitchell, who has separate talks with officials of Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt and Bahrain also planned for the coming days, emerged from a meeting earlier today with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and described that meeting as both "candid and positive".
And as if to emphasize the important role that the Obama administration clearly feels Syria has to play in the Middle East peace process, Mr Mitchell declared renewed talks between Syria and Israel to be a "near-term goal".
Syria's cooperation on the Israeli-Palestinian issue aside, their support for the Hamas administration in Gaza and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon is seen by many as being integral to the continued violence and unrest in the area, officials in Washington seem to view Syria's close friendship with Iran as a means of opening up effective dialogue with Tehran regarding its nuclear program. Something that the Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem acknowledges too. As
Al Jazeera reports, after a recent meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Mr al-Moallem had the following to say:
We support [a] political solution for issues standing between Iran and the West. For that, we believe we can play a role but we cannot take decisions on behalf of Iran. They have to take their decisions according to their interest
But Syria's assistance with matters relating to both Israel and Iran will not come entirely for free. For according to the
BBC, in turn quoting the official Syrian news agency SANA, President al-Assad told Mr Mitchell that if "a just and comprehensive peace" was to come about it would have to include recognition of "the Arab right to recover occupied lands". The occupied lands to which the President is referring are principally the Golan Heights, two-thirds of which have been in Israeli hands since the Six Day War of 1967.
Al Jazeera further underline the Syrian position in their analysis of the situation:
The Syrians have been extremely consistent with their position and they believe complete withdrawal from the Golan Heights is a prerequisite for talks on details such as how to share water from the Golan and the kind of role Syria could play when it comes to exerting pressure on groups that Israel considers to be an enemy
Once his visit to Syria is ended Mr Mitchell moves on to Israel to meet first with the country's Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The relationship between the U.S. and Israel has of late appeared rather less warm than usual. That has perhaps prompted the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who during the next week meets not just with Mr Mitchell but also U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Advisor James Jones, to reiterate that any current differences between the two countries will not affect their long term relationship. Mr Netanyahu went on record as saying that:
This relationship is important and strong. Naturally, in the context of friendly relations between allies, there isn't agreement on all points, and on several issues we are trying to reach understanding
One subject that will doubtless feature on the agenda for the talks between U.S and Israeli officials is that of the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. An expansion that Washington has questioned but which Israel regards as "natural growth".
The discussions taking place in various parts of the Middle East over the next few days are certainly not expected to bring an immediate end to the problems besetting that particular part of the world. But the merest hint of progress will be a most welcome one.
