US ready for rare talks with Syria
The United States said it was ready to hold rare talks with two visiting key Syrian officials this week, in another signal of Washington's recent policy shift to engage directly with its enemies.
By Agencies |
WASGHINGTON : The United States said it was ready to hold rare talks with two visiting key Syrian officials this week, in another signal of Washington's recent policy shift to engage directly with its enemies.
Syria is on a US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism. Riad Daoudi, Syrian lead negotiator with Israeli officials in Turkey and legal adviser to the Syrian foreign ministry, and Ahmad Samir al-Taki, a consultant to the Syrian prime minister, are in Washington on a private trip.
Part of a four-member group from Damascus, they will participate at a forum "Engaging Syria: new negotiations, old challenges" at Washington-based Brookings Institution tomorrow.
Their visit is sponsored by Search for Common Ground, an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in Washington and Brussels, which had sought a meeting for them with the State Department.
"It is customary for us to receive such visitors and Near Eastern Assistant Secretary of State David Welch is prepared to meet with them," Stat Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters yesterday.
But he stressed that they were not official talks, as Daoudi and Al-Taki "will be acting in their private capacity."
Gallegos said the precise date for the talks with the Syrian officials had not been determined yet.
Welch in his talks would explain "our policies and positions and hoping that all participants in that meeting will return home with a clear understanding of why the US government has its policies," a State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The State Department last week welcomed a decision by Lebanon and Syria to open diplomatic relations announced during a landmark visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to France.
Syria is on a US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism. Riad Daoudi, Syrian lead negotiator with Israeli officials in Turkey and legal adviser to the Syrian foreign ministry, and Ahmad Samir al-Taki, a consultant to the Syrian prime minister, are in Washington on a private trip.
Part of a four-member group from Damascus, they will participate at a forum "Engaging Syria: new negotiations, old challenges" at Washington-based Brookings Institution tomorrow.
Their visit is sponsored by Search for Common Ground, an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in Washington and Brussels, which had sought a meeting for them with the State Department.
"It is customary for us to receive such visitors and Near Eastern Assistant Secretary of State David Welch is prepared to meet with them," Stat Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters yesterday.
But he stressed that they were not official talks, as Daoudi and Al-Taki "will be acting in their private capacity."
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Gallegos said the precise date for the talks with the Syrian officials had not been determined yet.
Welch in his talks would explain "our policies and positions and hoping that all participants in that meeting will return home with a clear understanding of why the US government has its policies," a State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The State Department last week welcomed a decision by Lebanon and Syria to open diplomatic relations announced during a landmark visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to France.
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