UK reaches out to Syria

Tuesday, 18 November 2008 12:00 AM

The relationship between the UK and Syria reached its warmest point since the start of the war in Iraq today, with the visit of foreign secretary David Miliband to the country.

Mr Miliband will hold talks with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad before continuing his trip to Israel, the West Bank and Lebanon.

The visit follows that of Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem to London last month, just one day after American forces launched a strike on Syrian territory.

It is the first visit of a top-level British official since 2001.

"Syria has a big potential role to play in stability in the Middle East - it can be a force for stability or it can be a force for instability," Mr Miliband told the BBC.

"Over the last 18 months I've been talking with the Syrian foreign minister about her [Syria's] responsibilities in the region, in respect of terrorism, in respect of Iraq, in respect of the Middle East peace process, and we've got the chance now to take those discussions further forward."

Syria is treated with extreme suspicion by the US, primarily due to widespread concerns of its actions in Iraq and its alliances with Hamas in Palestine and Hizbullah in Lebanon.

Most parties consider it responsible for the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

But European nations have taken an altogether more engaged approach to the country, with French president Nicolas Sarkozy leading efforts to bring Syria back into the fold.

Syria and Israel are currently in advanced stages of negotiations over the Golan Heights.

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• foreign policy
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• middle east