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Bush Will Invite Syria To Mideast Peace Talks

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By MATTHEW LEE, The Associated Press

Published: September 24, 2007

UNITED NATIONS - The United States will invite 12 Arab nations, including Syria, to President Bush's Mideast peace conference this fall, a senior U.S. official said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was outlining the expected agenda for the meeting, including the invitation list, at the United Nations on Sunday to representatives of an international coalition trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the official said.

In addition to the Israelis and Palestinians, those to be invited include the diplomatic group known as the Quartet - the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia - and Arab League states studying a broader peace deal with Israel, the official said.

They are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.

They are members of a committee charged with following up an Arab League offer to recognize Israel in exchange for territory. Only two, Egypt and Jordan, have peace deals with Israel. Some, notably Syria and Saudi Arabia, remain technically at war with the Jewish state.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice had not yet made her presentation to the Quartet, its new representative to the region, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Arab diplomats.

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