A US official discussed reviving peace talks between Israel and Syria Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, who said Israel had to “declare frankly” it wants peace. George Mitchell, President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, said the US sought what he described as comprehensive Mideast peace that included a deal between Syria and Israel and the normalization of relations between the two countries. “Syria, certainly, has an important role to play in all of these efforts... and that was the topic of our discussion today,” Mitchell said in a brief statement. He said he looked “forward to making tangible progress on our efforts toward peace and on the bilateral relations between the United States and Syria”. Ties between Syria and the United States improved after President Barack Obama took office and Mitchell met Assad twice last year. Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Al-Mekdad, a leading figure in Syrian foreign policy, also visited Washington. Differences, however, persisted. Earlier, Mitchel was in Beirut at the start of his Mideast tour. In a statement, Mitchell said Lebanon would play a key role in the effort to build a lasting peace and stability in the region. He met Lebanese President Michel Suleiman Wednesday and reiterated Washington's commitment to the stalled Mideast peace process and Lebanon's independence. “Senator Mitchell conveyed the commitment of US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to comprehensive peace in the Middle East, which includes peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel and Syria, and Israel and Lebanon and the full normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab states,” the US embassy in Lebanon said. It added that the US envoy in his meeting with Prime Minister Hariri late Tuesday confirmed that Washington would not support the full naturalization as Lebanese citizens of an estimated 250,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon.
