WASHINGTON: The United States is pushing for peace talks between Israel, Syria and Lebanon, US envoy George Mitchell said Tuesday, as the Israelis prepared to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinians.
Wider peace talks between Israel and its northern Arab neighbors, which have been in perpetual conflict with the Jewish state since its creation in 1948, are seen as vital to any lasting peace in the region.
"With respect to Syria, our efforts continue to try to engage Israel and Syria in discussions and negotiations that would lead to peace there and also Israel and Lebanon," said Mitchell, US President Barack Obama`s Middle East envoy.
"You will recall that when the president announced my appointment two days after he entered office, he referred to comprehensive peace and defined it as Israel and Palestinians, Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon, and Israel at peace with and having normal relations with all of its Arab neighbors," Mitchell said, before adding: "And that remains our objective."
The US envoy was briefing journalists ahead of Thursday`s resumption of direct peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
Top level talks in search of an elusive Middle East peace deal broke off in December 2008 when Israel invaded the Palestinian Gaza Strip to halt militant rocket fire on its south.
Obama`s administration has been trying to engage Syria and has asked the Senate to approve the first US ambassador to Damascus in five years. Republican senators have so far successfully blocked the move.
The appointment has proven controversial in Washington, especially after Israeli President Shimon Peres said this year that Syria was supplying Hezbollah with Scud missiles that could cause major damage to Israeli cities.
But Syria has denied transferring Scuds to the Shiite militant group, labeled a terrorist organization by Washington, and the United States has not publicly confirmed the allegations.
The United States still regards Syria as an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region.
Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 fought a 34-day war that killed 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.
And there have been renewed tensions between Israel and Lebanon since an August 3 clash in which two Lebanese troops, a journalist and an Israeli officer were killed.
A preliminary UN report blamed the Lebanese army for the incident in which shots were fired over the border at an area where Israel was clearing trees.
The UN Security Council issued a new condemnation of the tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border on Monday as it renewed the mandate of a frontier peacekeeping force for another 12 months.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was set up in 1978 to monitor the border between Israel and southern Lebanon. It was beefed up and given a wider role after the 2006 war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.
The US State Department said Tuesday it was sending one of Mitchell`s aide, Frederic Hof, to Lebanon and Israel on a mission to check on progress since the August 3 clash.
Syria has demanded the complete return of the Golan Heights, which the Israelis captured in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in moves not recognized by the international community, as a condition for peace with Israel.
BDST: 10: 44 HRS, September 1, 2010
