Europe leads bid to lure Syria in from the cold

Syria is hailing its return from international isolation with a landmark visit today by the EU's foreign policy chief as diplomacy in the Middle East intensifies ahead of a key Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia at the end of this month.

Damascus is trumpeting the talks with Javier Solana as evidence that the country is coming in from the cold after being largely shunned by Europe since the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik al-Hariri, two years ago.

Mr Solana, mandated by all 27 EU member states, was only able to arrange the trip late last week when France lifted the veto imposed by Jacques Chirac after the murder of Hariri, a close friend. The Syrian government and media is preparing to give him the red carpet treatment, but there is no evidence of a change on basics.

The visit follows signs that the US may be slowly changing its approach to Damascus. Last weekend, Syria's deputy foreign minister took part, with the US and Iran, in security talks in Iraq, as recommended by the Baker-Hamilton commission.

On Monday, Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for refugees and migration, became the highest-level US official to visit Syria for two years. Her visit was to discuss the plight of the tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees in the country. Washington insisted that that was the context, not any improvement in bilateral relations.

"It has become crystal clear that Syria couldn't be isolated," said the government newspaper Al-Thawra.

"People are knocking on Syria's door," said Ghayth Armanazi, director of the Syrian Media Centre in London. "The Europeans have realised that Syria is a pivotal state. Even the Americans are starting to take steps in that direction."

Syria is also the only Arab country which has a strategic relationship with Iran, embroiled in an intensifying row with the west over its nuclear ambitions.

In Beirut on Monday, Mr Solana promised "frank discussions" in Syria on its role in Lebanon, where many blame President Bashar al-Assad for a series of bomb attacks. He will also address the issue of the UN tribunal due to try suspects in the Hariri killing.

Fuad Siniora's pro-western government is seeking parliamentary approval for the tribunal, but this is being resisted by the pro-Syrian opposition.

Damascus insists that any of its nationals accused of involvement in the killing should be tried in accordance with Syrian law. The EU envoy said that Damascus would have to "modify" its behaviour.

But the official media was defiant. "Syria did not change its policies simply because they proved to be correct and do not need to be changed," said an editorial in Al-Thawra.

"The others should make the required change because they were wrong."

Guardian