EU Delegation Pushes For Normal Relations With Hamas
Members of a high-profile European parliamentary delegation are urging their governments to engage in direct talks with Hamas and end the Islamic movement's international isolation. The push comes after a marathon meeting Saturday between the delegation and Hamas's political leader Khaled Mashaal, who is in exile in Damascus.
Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal
The six-member delegation, which includes lawmakers from Britain, Scotland and Ireland, said its first public move would be to encourage more Europeans to recognize Hamas as a legitimate movement that was democratically elected in January, 2006.
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(AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
The six-member delegation, which includes lawmakers from Britain, Scotland and Ireland, said its first public move would be to encourage more Europeans to recognize Hamas as a legitimate movement that was democratically elected in January, 2006.
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High-Level Talks Another Step For U.S.-Syria Diplomacy
Although Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has not met with two senior U.S. envoys, Damascus and Washington sounded upbeat on Saturday that their first high-level talks in the Syrian capital in four years would result in better ties between the two countries after years of tension.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sat with Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, a senior staffer on the National Security Council, for four hours as both sides tested the waters to see what concrete offers will emerge as the countries seek a closer rapprochement.
Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem is seen in a March, 2008 file photo. Muallem met with two top U.S. envoys March 7, 2009 as Syria and the U.S. seek renewed diplomatic relations.
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Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sat with Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, a senior staffer on the National Security Council, for four hours as both sides tested the waters to see what concrete offers will emerge as the countries seek a closer rapprochement.
(AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
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Clinton Shakes Syria's Hand
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shook hands with her Syrian counterpart Monday as the two attended a conference in Egypt on rebuilding the Gaza Strip.
The simple handshake before lunch was the highest-level contact between the two countries in years.
It was clear that the gesture had been arrangement, as Foreign Minister Walid Muallem (seen at left in a file photo) chose the first table in the banquet hall in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheik. He sat there and waited. Clinton seemed to head straight over to shake hands with him.
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The simple handshake before lunch was the highest-level contact between the two countries in years.
(AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
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Hillary Clinton To Attend Conference On Gaza Aid
This story was filed by CBS News' George Baghdadi, reporting from Sharm el-Sheikh.
Foreign ministers and international aid groups will converge in the Egyptian summer resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday in a bid to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, devastated a month ago by three weeks of non-stop onslaught by Israeli forces. Facing the reconstruction efforts are tricky questions about how to devise a mechanism for funneling the necessary cash.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — who is arriving in this Red Sea resort on her first visit to the Middle East since joining the Obama administration — has said the United States would offer more than $900 million through the United Nations or the Palestinian Authority.
[Washington has no direct contact with Hamas, a group which remains on the State Department's list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.]
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Foreign ministers and international aid groups will converge in the Egyptian summer resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday in a bid to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, devastated a month ago by three weeks of non-stop onslaught by Israeli forces. Facing the reconstruction efforts are tricky questions about how to devise a mechanism for funneling the necessary cash.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
[Washington has no direct contact with Hamas, a group which remains on the State Department's list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.]
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Syria: We're Part Of Mideast Peace Process
(AP Photo/Ola al-Rifai)
"No peace envoy can succeed in his mission without the peacemaking will of all parties. The envoy should be an honest broker in this process and should contact all parties concerned. In other words, not contact one party and isolate another," Muallem told reporters in Damascus during a joint news conference with visiting European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
"I have heard a lot about Senator Mitchell, but I never met him. If his intentions were true, then he should contact all parties, because I cannot judge on somebody from afar," Muallem added.
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U.S. Lawmakers "Hopeful" After Syria Talks
(AP Photo/Bassem Tella)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., left, meets with Syrian Vice President Farouk Sharaa in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday Feb. 21, 2009.
Two U.S. lawmakers came out of talks with Syrian leaders on Saturday more hopeful Damascus would engage in dialogue with the new administration as Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad denounced what he called Washington's "dictation policy" of recent years.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., both agreed they see prospects for better relations with Syria, a country shunned under Bush.
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Kerry Meets With Syrian President
Senator John Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations committee, went into immediate talks on Saturday with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to encourage him to curb support for Islamist militant groups in return for a new policy of dialogue with the Obama Administration.
The Massachusetts Democrat, who is also set to meet with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and other officials, arrived in the Syrian capital for a two-day visit, the last leg of a five-stop regional tour that has taken him to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel. He also paid a surprising visit to the isolated, battle-scarred Gaza Strip, the first in nearly a decade by a U.S. lawmaker since the second Palestinian uprising broke out.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, (D-Calif.), also arrived in the Syrian capital earlier in the day, to discuss how both countries can have better ties.
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(AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, (D-Calif.), also arrived in the Syrian capital earlier in the day, to discuss how both countries can have better ties.
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In Syria, Cardin Seeks Reforms Before Renewing Relations
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) – on a two-day fact-finding mission to Syria – argued that opening a new chapter with Damascus requires it to end its three-decade alliance with Iran and support for the militant groups.
At the same time, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (at left)signaled his country was seeking to start out new relations through "serious and positive" dialogue.
The remarks came after a set of talks between the two men. Cardin is in Syria in his capacity as chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission -- the U.S. branch of an alliance of parliamentary human rights monitors that reports to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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(AP Photo/Eric Feferberg)
The remarks came after a set of talks between the two men. Cardin is in Syria in his capacity as chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission -- the U.S. branch of an alliance of parliamentary human rights monitors that reports to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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U.S. Opens Door To Syria Dialogue
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
The move by the new U.S. administration and the trip to Syria next week by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as that by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman of California, are clear indications that Washington is opening the door wide for this Middle East nation to dialogue after years of isolation.
Another congressional delegation, headed by Rep. Adam Smith, a Democratic member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, paid a visit to Damascus last month and declared the United States was willing to turn a new leaf in relations with Syria.
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EU, Syria Look To Boost Relations
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged Europe on Monday to play a more active role in the Middle East peace process, as a top EU official said during a visit to Damascus that a long-delayed partnership agreement with Syria could come to fruition in the coming months.
Assad held talks Monday with EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner (at left), who also met Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa, Vice Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah al-Dardari and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.
"The President asserted the importance of the European Union's role in helping the countries of the region in reaching solutions for the problems they are facing," an official told CBS News on condition of anonymity.
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(AP Photo/Thierry Charlier)
"The President asserted the importance of the European Union's role in helping the countries of the region in reaching solutions for the problems they are facing," an official told CBS News on condition of anonymity.
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Saudi King Makes Overtures To Syria
Saudi King Abdullah kept up his conciliatory approach to Syria on Sunday and sent his son to Damascus to discuss with Syrian President Basher Al-Assad the best ways to improve their bilateral ties, which reached a low ebb over Lebanon, Iraq and to a lesser extent, Palestine.
Syrian officials said the overture came as Assad received earlier in the day Prince Muqran who conveyed a verbal message from the Saudi King to the Syrian leader.
"The message tackles bilateral relations, latest regional developments and the importance of coordination and consultation between the two sides in the interest of the two countries' peoples and the Arab peoples in general," according to an official statement.
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Syrian officials said the overture came as Assad received earlier in the day Prince Muqran who conveyed a verbal message from the Saudi King to the Syrian leader.
"The message tackles bilateral relations, latest regional developments and the importance of coordination and consultation between the two sides in the interest of the two countries' peoples and the Arab peoples in general," according to an official statement.
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John Kerry To Visit Syrian Capital
(CBS)
Former President George W. Bush imposed unilateral sanctions on Syria in 2004 — primarily as punishment for Damascus' support of the Islamic militant movements Hamas and Hezbollah — which he then extended during his last year in office.
Washington's ambassador to Syria was withdrawn following the 2005 assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. Damascus has denied accusations that it was involved in the killing.
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Obama's OK Of Plane Deal Signals Thaw With Syria
President Barack Obama has pioneered a route towards Syria that is distinctive from that of his predecessor President Bush, dispatching congressional delegations and signaling a rare authorization to sell Damascus plane parts for repairing two aging Boeing 747s.
The overture comes as this Mediterranean country recently signed a memorandum to purchase 50 passenger jets from Airbus (a deal purportedly worth billions), despite Washington's trade sanctions begun in 2004 over Syria's alleged aid to militants in Iraq and destabilization of Lebanon.
Mr. Obama's moves are being greeted with vast relief.
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The overture comes as this Mediterranean country recently signed a memorandum to purchase 50 passenger jets from Airbus (a deal purportedly worth billions), despite Washington's trade sanctions begun in 2004 over Syria's alleged aid to militants in Iraq and destabilization of Lebanon.
Mr. Obama's moves are being greeted with vast relief.
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Hamas Says Truce With Israel Within Reach
A top Hamas leader on Sunday would not rule out the possibility of freeing Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit in return for releasing Palestinian prisoners, and indicated a Gaza truce accord between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement could be reached within the next few days.
"Throughout the talks that we have been making in Cairo, I think there might be positive results in the next few days on reaching an understanding on a truce with the Israelis," Hamas' Mousa Abul Marzouk told CBS News.
The number two figure in the militants' organization said any long-term cease-fire with Israel would include an immediate lifting of the 18-month blockade on the impoverished seaside Gaza Strip, and opening its border crossings to allow in humanitarian aid for Gaza's 1.5 million people.
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"Throughout the talks that we have been making in Cairo, I think there might be positive results in the next few days on reaching an understanding on a truce with the Israelis," Hamas' Mousa Abul Marzouk told CBS News.
The number two figure in the militants' organization said any long-term cease-fire with Israel would include an immediate lifting of the 18-month blockade on the impoverished seaside Gaza Strip, and opening its border crossings to allow in humanitarian aid for Gaza's 1.5 million people.
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Hamas: "Israel Cannot Dictate" Conditions
(AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
"The enemy has given obscure and incomplete answers through Egypt that do not reach the level of lifting the siege," Mashaal told a rally in Damascus to celebrate the "victory" in Israel's 22-day military operation in Gaza that left more than 1300 Palestinian killed and some 5000 wounded.
"The enemy has given no guarantee and we will not accept any truce until after we get our demands done," he added to the applause of thousands of excited audience.
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