Syria Today | Mitchell notches up third Damascus visit

Mitchell notches up third Damascus visit

US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss the Middle East peace process in Damascus on January 20. During the talks, Assad said Israel must “declare frankly” that it wants peace.

The visit was Mitchell’s third to Syria since US President Barack Obama took office last year. During the talks, Mitchell reiterated to Assad that Obama’s vision for a comprehensive peace in the region included a deal between Syria and Israel.

“Syria certainly has an important role to play in all of these efforts,” Mitchell said in a brief statement to local press. He added that he looked “forward to making tangible progress on efforts towards peace and on bilateral relations between the US and Syria”.

Syrian-Israeli indirect peace talks broke down when Israel launched its offensive on Gaza in December 2008. According to Syria’s state-run news agency SANA, Assad told Mitchell that Turkey has an “important role” to play in reviving the talks and Israel had to “declare frankly” that it wants peace.

Syria says Israel must be committed to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, in accordance with UN resolutions, before direct peace talks can begin. Israel says it will resume talks, but without ‘preconditions’. The US and Israel also demand that Syria stop supporting the Palestinian faction Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

Since Obama stepped into the White House, US-Syrian relations have seen a marked improvement. Throughout 2009 a string of US delegates touched down in Damascus to hold talks with Syrian officials. Despite the dialogue, Syria has voiced frustration at the slow pace of progress in recent months. Many feel Obama has not exerted enough pressure on Israel to renew the peace process. Syrian officials have also expressed disappointment that the US president renewed economic sanctions imposed on the country by the former Bush administration.

An unnamed Syrian source told Reuters that Assad would continue to show flexibility with Washington, but only up to a point. “The late Hafez al-Assad used to say that the Americans want us to commit suicide,” the source said. “Bashar has limits to what he can give the United States.”