Rice hopes Syria will attend peace conference

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that key Arab nations, including Syria, would be invited to President George W. Bush's planned Mideast peace conference this fall and expressed hope they would attend.

Formal invitations have not been issued yet but Rice said Sunday it ''would be natural'' for Syria, Saudi Arabia and 10 other Arab League members looking at a broad peace deal to participate despite their hostility towards Israel.

''It is very important that the regional players of the international community mobilize to support them,'' she said, referring to the Israelis and the Palestinians.

But she said their attendance would have to reflect acceptance of international efforts to end the conflict, and support for the ultimate goal of a two-state solution and comprehensive regional peace agreement.

''We would hope that the invitations would include the members of the Arab follow-up committee,'' Rice told a news conference here after a meeting of the international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East - the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia.

Aside from the Palestinians and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, the committee members are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.

The United States has long been concerned about Syrian development of weapons of mass destruction and has harshly criticized Syria for its consistent anti-Israel stance, support for Palestinian militants and its role in Lebanon where Damascus is accused of interference.

Rice did not speak to the appropriateness of inviting Syria to the as-yet unscheduled conference that Bush announced plans for in July and is expected to be held in Washington in November. She said that attendance ''has to be a commitment to supporting a two-state solution'' and agreement that the chance to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one that ''we should not miss.''

Many Arab states have said they see no use for Bush's conference unless it has clear goals and a realistic chance of meeting them. A senior US official said Rice thought she could allay those fears in her talks on Sunday.

Still, there was no immediate reaction from Syria.

Rice conceded Sunday that ''the road ahead is one that is very difficult.'' But she added: ''There is a lot of commitment and hopefully this time we'll succeed.''

In addition to the Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab League committee, those to be invited to the US-hosted conference will include the Quartet members and other major international players and donors, possibly including Japan, officials said.