RIYADH, 5 April 2007 — US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met here last night with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for talks aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process.
Her visit to the Saudi capital came in the wake of her controversial meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The California Democrat delivered a message to Bashar from Israel that it was ready to hold peace talks with Syria provided it stops arming the insurgents in Lebanon. Syria denies that it funnels arms to Hezbollah.
Pelosi’s trip has angered the Bush administration, which accused the Democrats of sending mixed signals to Syria, listed by the US State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Pelosi is the most senior US official to visit Syria in more than two years. The White House called her trip to Damascus a bad idea.
“We were very pleased with the reassurances we received from (Bashar) that he was ready to resume the peace process,” Pelosi said after her meeting with Bashar in Damascus. “He was ready to engage in negotiations ... with Israel.”
Saudi Ambassador to the US Adel Al-Jubair and senior officials from the Shoura Council and the Foreign Ministry greeted Pelosi at the airport in Riyadh last night.
Melisa Ford, press attaché at the US Embassy in Riyadh, told Arab News that the meeting took place at the king’s ranch just outside of the capital. Pelosi is scheduled to visit members of the Shoura Council, the Kingdom’s appointed consultative body. Although she would not say what the topic of the discussion would be, her talks are likely to touch on the Arab League summit last week where the Saudi peace initiative was relaunched.
A Saudi official told The Associated Press earlier yesterday that Israel must accept the terms of the peace initiative before Saudi Arabia would come to the table. The initiative stipulates that in exchange for full recognition as a Middle East neighbor, Israel must roll back to pre-1967 boundaries and allow a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes in Israel is a major sticking point, and Israel wants recognition of its right to exist as a precursor to any negotiations. Syria wants the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Pelosi said Bashar told her he was also ready for negotiations with Israel.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem said that Syria was ready to resume talks with Israel based on an Arab peace plan calling for Israeli withdrawal from all Arab lands for peace adopted at a summit last month.
“They said that Olmert is ready for peace with Syria. We replied that Syria is ready for peace according to the Arab initiative,” he told reporters. Peace talks between Syria and Israel, centered on normal ties in return for the Golan Heights, collapsed in 2000.
An Israeli government official said that during a visit to Israel before her Syria trip, Pelosi had asked Olmert if he had any message to give to Bashar.
“The prime minister said Israel is interested in peace with Syria, but Syria would first have to abandon the path of terror and providing support for terrorist groups,” the official said.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said yesterday that Israeli leaders were sending out “mixed signals” on whether they were serious about peace in the Middle East.
— With input from agencies
