Rice meets Syrian minister on US policy shift

Sharmel-Sheikh, Egypt, May 4: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syria's foreign minister in a major shift in US strategy today, and called on Damascus to stop foreign fighters crossing into Iraq.

US President George W. Bush's administration has dropped its once resolute opposition to high-level contacts with Syria and Iran as it seeks ways to end the Iraq conflict.

Rice said her meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh -- her first with him since she became secretary of state more than two years ago -- was ''professional and business-like''.

Moualem said the meeting on the sidelines of a major international conference on Iraq was ''frank and constructive''.

''I didn't lecture him, he didn't lecture me,'' Rice told reporters. ''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.'' Washington has accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to enter Iraq through the long border between the two countries and is pressing for an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Disagreements

The United States and Syria have a long list of disagreements and have supported opposing sides in Lebanon, which is divided over the country's geopolitical alignment.

After the killing of Hariri, the United States withdrew its ambassador from Damascus and contacts have been limited except for discussions about Iraq. US officials have suspected Syrian agents of involvement in the killing.

The US military acknowledged today Syria was doing more to stop the flow of fighters into Iraq. A spokesman said the military had observed a reduction in the last month.

Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack said Moualem asked when a US ambassador would return to Damascus and that Rice had replied she was at the meeting to talk about Iraq.

A US bipartisan congressional panel on Iraq recommended last December the Bush administration should directly engage with both Syria and Iran to help resolve the Iraq conflict.

But the White House initially resisted such contacts, saying talks had been fruitless in the past and that Syria knew what it should do to help Iraq.

Last month, the Democrat Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, was criticised by Bush after she made a high-profile visit to Damascus.

Tom Lantos, a Democrat who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Rice's meeting with Moualem proved Bush had been wrong to criticise Pelosi.

''It is infinitely better to confront in a firm but civilised way those with whom we disagree than simply to give them the silent treatment,'' said Lantos.

Earlier today, Rice exchanged pleasantries with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki over lunch but there had been no substantive discussion, said McCormack.

Reuters>