Moscow May Host Middle East Follow-Up

The Syrian message was echoed yesterday in the state-controlled media. "It is now vital to act seriously to put peace talks back on track. The alternatives to this are dangerous to the region and the entire world," Teshreen said in an editorial.

Administration officials have been uncertain about how much to woo Damascus, given concerns over its role in Lebanon, its support for extremists and the transit through Syria of foreign fighters and weapons to Iraqi insurgents. Some U.S. officials did not want Syria to receive an invitation to Annapolis, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argued that it was important to be able to tell other Arab states that the Syrians had been invited.

Some foreign policy experts close to the administration have also begun to voice concern that the White House's resolve to confront Syria is weakening. "It appears that we are courting them, and the Syrians are continuing this really unproductive role in Lebanon, and the administration is not taking any countermeasures that are apparent," said David Schenker, a former Pentagon Middle East expert now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In an interview with CNN yesterday, Bush said that any negotiations over the Golan Heights are "going to be up to Israel and Syria," and that his focus for now is on resolving the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. He concluded three days of intensive Middle East diplomacy by proclaiming the Annapolis conference a "hopeful beginning" to peace negotiations. Appearing yesterday in the Rose Garden flanked by Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the president said he assured both that "the United States will be actively engaged in the process, that we will use our power to help you, as you come up with the necessary decisions to lay out a Palestinian state that will live side by side in peace with Israel."

Russia's proposal to hold a sequel conference and Syria's interest in expanding the new effort may signal some momentum generated in Annapolis, despite deep skepticism even by participants about enduring results.

Russia is seeking to widen the peace process after weeks of behind-the-scenes diplomacy, according to Russian and Arab officials. Its offer to promote a broader agenda was part of what lured Syria to Annapolis, Russian and Syrian officials said. Sergey Yakovlev, Moscow's ambassador at large to the Middle East, has been holding talks with Syria and others in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia backs the idea of beginning Syrian-Israeli peace talks, said a senior Arab envoy. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested this week that the next international gathering be held as early as the end of January, while other European and Arab officials said it is more likely to take place in the first three months of 2008.

Lavrov told reporters yesterday that Russia will work to broker peace talks between Israel and all its neighbors.

"This is crucial not only for the solution of all key problems in Palestinian-Israeli relations -- I mean the border issue, refugees and the status of Jerusalem -- but also for approaching other spheres of the Middle East settlement, the Arab-Israeli conflict. I mean the Syrian and Lebanese areas," Lavrov said, according to Russian news reports.

In another follow-up to Tuesday's conference, the Bush administration named retired Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones, a former supreme allied commander of NATO, to become a special U.S. envoy for Middle East security. Rice said Jones will work with Israelis and Palestinians and help design a new U.S. plan of security assistance for the Palestinian Authority.