Iraq security drives US-Syria talks
Secretary of State Rice met in Egypt Thursday with Syrian Foreign Minister Moalem, who called their discussion 'frank and constructive.'
from the May 4, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Only unofficial pleasantries with Iran
Earlier hints from Rice and others, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that a US-Iran meeting might take place withered as Thursday's International Compact for Iraq got under way. Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki were not seen to make any contact at a session where Mr. Mottaki blamed "the flawed policies of the occupying powers" for Iraq's plight.
The two did exchange salutations before lunch, according to US officials, who added that any further contact was likely to be limited to a similar opportunity before an official conference dinner.
Rice's decision to meet her Syrian counterpart was swiftly condemned in some circles, including opponents of the Assad regime and other hard-liners who see such contacts as rewarding bad behavior.
"Meeting with the Syrian foreign minister will send the signal that Middle East violent dictators are rewarded," the Reform Party of Syria, a US-based opposition party, said in a statement. It will "also send a signal to other dictators with a penchant for violence that the United States will succumb to their will if they terrorize their neighbors the way the Assad regime has terrorized Iraq, Lebanon, and the Israeli people via Hizbullah."
But some experts see the meeting as a kind of public declaration of "put your money where your mouth is."
Mr. Clawson of the Washington Institute notes that both Iran and Syria have said that they "respect Iraq's government" and its right to govern as a sovereign nation. "That provides an opening," he adds, "to go to them and say, 'OK, what are you going to do about it?' "
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