Syria's Bashar Assad
Photo: AP
Report: Talks on possible Israel-Syria conference in Moscow underway
Saudi newspaper quotes Palestinian officials as saying that an international peace conference on the advancement of relations between Jerusalem and Damascus will likely be held next year in Moscow
Palestinian sources estimated that a special international conference on the advancement of Israel-Syria relations would be held in next year, Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported Saturday.
According to the report, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had promoted the initiative during his recent meetings with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Al-Watan quoted Palestinian officials as saying that Abbas tried to convince Rice of the need to advance peace between Israel and Syria through a conference similar in its format to the upcoming parley in Annapolis. The sources said Abbas had also stressed the importance of Syria's participation in the Annapolis conference.
It was further reported that the Palestinian president sent his representative to update Damascus on the developments.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials have yet to address reports according to which the Palestinian Authority has agreed to condition the establishment of an independent state on the entity's pledge to fight terror.
Also, reports that the Palestinian Liberation Organization's envoy to the United Nations was working toward passing a resolution that would outlaw Hamas and other terror groups have caused uproar in the Authority. Local media outlets have claimed that the move constituted a "stab in the back of the Palestinians" and that the PLO envoy was "worse than the Israeli representative in the UN".
