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Peres, on state visit to Brazil, calls on Assad to begin direct talks with Israel
By Haaretz Correspondent and AP , By Shuki Sadeh

President Shimon Peres yesterday urged Syrian President Assad to engage in direct peace talks with Israel without delay.

"I am calling on President Assad to join us in direct and immediate negotiations, without mediators, without conditions, without postponements," Peres said in an address to Brazil's parliament on the first day of his visit to Brazil.
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Peres told legislators that Israel recognizes the Palestinians' right to an independent state and is prepared to make painful concessions to make that happen.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to arrive in Brazil on November 23, and Brazilian officials say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may also visit later this month.

The visits follow a July trip by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to Brazil, during which he tried to drum up support for combating Iran's nuclear program.

Peres' visit was the first by an Israeli president in more than four decades. He met with Brazil's defense minister yesterday and is expected to meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva today. Also on the trip are 40 Israeli business leaders.

In interviews with the Brazilian press published Sunday, Peres played down expectations he would discuss the Iran issue at length with Silva during the visit, which Israeli officials have said will mainly be about trade and ties.

Asked if he thought Brazil, given its good relations with both Israel and Iran, might be a good nation to help temper Iran's supposed nuclear ambitions, Peres said: "Maybe. But I don't have this expectation."

Brazil has emerged as an economic powerhouse in recent years, and appears to be gaining a diplomatic punch to match. It has become a voice for poor countries in the G-20. Some foreign governments see it as the moderate voice of Latin America's leftist-led countries.

Gaining Brazilian support would lend credibility to Iran's government, analysts say. Israeli officials have expressed concern over Iran's growing ties with leftist governments in Latin America.

Iranian companies are active in Venezuela and the countries' leaders have exchanged visits. Iran has also opened embassies in Bolivia and Nicaragua, and an Israeli report recently suggested that Bolivia and Venezuela were supplying uranium to Iran - an allegation denied by both countries.

During the UN General Assembly in September Silva defended Iran's right to have a nuclear program for energy and called it a great partner.
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