Turkish FM Says There’s a Long Way to Go Before Israeli-Syrian Peace

by The Associated Press

Turkey’s foreign minister said Monday that a lot remains to be achieved before any peace agreement between Israel and Syria, but that his country will continue to act as a go- between to encourage them to restart direct negotiations. …

Ali Babacan said an agreement between the longtime enemies would require "strong political determination" from both sides.

Posted on: 04/28/08

Barak Defers U.S. Trip in Wake of CIA Briefing Over Syrian Strike

by Amos Harel, Yossi Melman and Yoav Stern (Haaretz)

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak postponed a trip to Washington scheduled to begin Sunday in the wake of Thursday’s CIA briefing to Congress over Israel’s September 2007 airstrike on a Syrian nuclear installation.

Barak was slated to meet with senior U.S. officials including Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during the two-day visit. Barak made the decision a few days ago. The postponement is aimed at avoiding the impression that his meetings were in any way connected to the U.S. decision to disclose information on the Syrian facility.

Posted on: 04/28/08

IAEA Chastises U.S., Israel over Syrian Reactor

by Agence France Presse

The head of the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency on Friday criticized the United States for not giving his organization intelligence information sooner on what Washington says was a nuclear reactor in Syria being built secretly by North Korea. …

"The director general deplores the fact that this information was not provided to the agency in a timely manner, in accordance with the agency’s responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to enable it to verify its veracity and establish the facts," the statement said. Additionally, "the director general views the unilateral use of force by Israel as undermining the due process of verification that is at the heart of the nonproliferation regime," it said.

Posted on: 04/28/08

Iraqi Refugees in Syria Hit by Increased Food And Fuel Prices

by Aline Jaccottet, Hussam Mukhtar, Carole Laleve and Sybella Wilkes (UNHCR)

Life is steadily becoming even worse for Iraqi refugees in Syria. Soaring global fuel and food prices mean that once prosperous Iraqi professionals are now joining daily queues for food assistance.

The food lines have been growing since late last year as thousands of Iraqi refugees began running out of savings after months, or years, in exile. The rising prices have made tens of thousands more Iraqis dependent on help from the UN refugee agency and its sister organization, the World Food Program (WFP).

Posted on: 04/28/08

Smart Diplomats Can Take On Multiple Syrian Tracks

"The conditions do not exist for an improvement of relations with Syria so long as Syrian policies remain hostile to important interests of ours in the Middle East. It is appropriate to continue sanctions and pressures on Syria so long as this is the case. And, based on the experience of past meetings with President Assad, I am skeptical of the value of further diplomatic overtures in the absence of significant improvements in U.S. leverage or in the overall balance of forces in the region."
–Peter W. Rodman, former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, Department of Defense (2001-2007); senior fellow, The Brookings Institution, testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, April 24, 2008

VS.

"Sponsoring Israeli-Syrian negotiations does not require the U.S. to drop any of its other concerns, from maintaining the independence of Lebanon, to ensuring the effectiveness of the Special Tribunal, to pressing Damascus to end its human rights abuses and its sponsorship of terrorist organizations. Indeed, if the next president goes down this road toward a more constructive engagement with Syria, the United States would be able more effectively to pursue each of these issues.”
–Martin S. Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, Department of State (1997-2000); director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institution,testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, April 24, 2008