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Syria Holds 4-Way Summit

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(A-O Newswire) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad is hosting a 4-way Summit in Damascus, Syria today. Participants include French President Nicolas Sarkozy who is acting on behalf of the EU as the EU President.

Also attending is the Prime Minister of Turkey, Tayyup Erdogan and the ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who is the current head of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Assad as host makes up the 4th party in the Summit.

The purpose of the Summit is to pre-arrange new peace talks between Syria and Israel with a precondition for a peace treaty being that Israel give up the Golan Heights region to Syria. Israel has retained control over the Golan Heights since the "Six-Day War" of 1967.

French President Sarkozy, anxious to cement himself as the premier world neogiator for peace has abandoned the joint US-Franco policy of trying to isolate Syria and create a split between Assad and Iran. Sarkozy's switch in strategy is not sitting well with the Bush administration. The White House believes that such a move will only be twisted to Syria's advantage without any benefits for US or Israeli interests.

At the very start of the Summit and even beforehand, President Assad warned that any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would lead to a wider conflict that could well become a World War. Sarkozy has sent diplomatic signals that he is willing to live with a nuclear Iran. He had previously promised Israel and the US that France would not permit a nuclear Iran and now it appears that he is willing to break that promise. Why?

French diplomats have come to believe that Assad is serious about abandoning support for radical, Islamic terrorism. He wants Syria to be moved out of its isolation and re-enter the capitalist world to build a booming economy. He claims that until recently, his efforts to abandon terrorism has been foiled by old elements of his father's regime who refused to see his vision for a 'new' Syria. In the past year, Assad has been able to trigger crackdowns and eliminate hostile elements in the government who were opposed to his efforts for peace. At least, that's Assad's story and he's sticking to it.

While the Bush Administration agrees with the French about the goal, the White House expects the French diplomatic tactics will backfire. There is also a lingering doubt inside the State Department concerning Assad's motives and sincerity.

However, as a sign of Assad's seriousness, The Syrian leader has reportedly ordered the top Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal leave Syria for at least the duration of the Summit. The implications are that Syria will no longer host Hamas.

A Kuwaiti newspaper reports that Meshaal didn't just leave Syria for a few days, but instead has moved to live in Sudan. The Kuwaiti paper cites Palestinian sources who claimed that the move was part of a secret deal between Meshaal and Syrian leaders and is part of Syrian President Assad's efforts to get rid of its terrorist ties in order to obtain peace with Israel and come out of its worldwide diplomatic and economic isolation. A Hamas official in Damascus denies the Kuwaiti newspaper report saying Meshaal and other top Hamas leaders are not moving to Sudan.

Already, Syria's relationship with Hezbollah has been strained as Hezbollah has clashed with Syrian forces in a portion of northern Lebanon where Syria has historically claimed as its own de-facto territory. Cooperation between Syria and Hezbollah has been greatly restrained in recent months.

The Summit includes Turkey's Prime Minister because he has been overseeing the indirect, secret peace talks between Israel and Syria. The ruler of Qatar is on hand to provide input from the Persian Gulf nations in an effort to create a stable peace between Israel and Syria.

However, as the summit unfolds, Syria has handed over a list of proposals for peace to Turkey and in turn, the Turkish Prime Minister announced that a fifth round of talks between Israel and Syria that were scheduled for next week in Istanbul have been cancelled.

Part of the problem with continuing talks between Israel and Syria is the Israeli political situation. At the moment, Israel's Prime Minister is just days away from being replaced by a new government or a caretaker government until new elections can be held. In other words, there's no one in Israel with the political authority to negotiate with Syria, at least for the moment.

For more on the Syrian Summit story, see the following links below:

Time Magazine On Sarkozy's Summit Gamble - LINK HERE.

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Sarkozy Says Iran Takes Major Risk - May Cause Israeli Attack - LINK HERE
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Assad Warns Against Iran Attack - LINK HERE.

Peace Talks Frozen Due To Israel's Political Situation -- LINK HERE.

Syrian Peace Proposal To Israel -- LINK HERE.

Hamas Leader Evacuates From Syria?  LINK HERE

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