British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said on Monday that the international community should be open to discussions with Iran and Syria to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and to bolster the reconstruction of Iraq.

"The question is, 'will either Iran or Syria or both decide to end their self-imposed isolation and to begin to cooperate more with the international community'," Beckett said as he was going into an EU foreign ministers meeting.

She said both nations had to be "part of the solution instead of being part of the problem."

	Advertisement

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to urge the international community in a speech later on Monday to tell the two nations how they can assist with the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process and promote stability in Iraq.

Blair is to urge them to cut support to insurgents there, according to excerpts released in advance by his office.

Iran and Syria have also been accused by the West of backing militants in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon, destabilizing the pro-Western government in Beirut.

The European Union and Washington have sought to bolster the Lebanese government and to prevent Syria from reimposing influence over its Arab neighbor.

The EU is also open to holding talks with Iran about Iraq, and has privately urged the United States to do so, a move that would be the most public exchange between the two countries in years.

However, the U.S. does not want to discuss broader subjects such as Iran's contentious nuclear program, which Washington and the 25-nation EU suspect is being used to make weapons.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday lent support to the British proposal, saying talks should be held with Syria and Iran on ending the violence in Iraq.

Howard, a staunch U.S. ally and one of the first to commit troops to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, said Syria and Iran were part of the Middle East equation.

"I am in favor of talking to countries like Syria and Iran," Howard told Sydney radio.

"But I am very skeptical as to whether you will have a fair dinkum [honest] response from either of those countries."

The idea has so far been spurned by U.S. President George W. Bush, who is fiercely critical of both countries. Blair is Bush's top ally on Iraq.

Engaging Syria and Iran on Iraq is an idea favored by some members of a U.S. panel that Bush has tasked with exploring alternative Iraq strategies.

Howard said the panel could recommend talks with these two neighbors of Iraq.

"I am in favor of trying that, but I don't think anybody should imagine for a moment that that is going to deliver a quick outcome," he said.

"Many people believe they are directly responsible for a lot of the violence, for the improvised explosive devices that are used in many parts of the country," he added. "The Syrian border has been very porous to say the least."

Bush is considering a shift in Iraq policy after his Republican Party received a drubbing in last week's mid-term elections, losing control of both houses of Congress, largely due to criticism over the Iraq war.

Howard has steadfastly refused to change tact on Iraq, saying Australian troops will remain until Baghdad can handle its own security. Australia's opposition Labor party has vowed to withdraw these troops if elected in an upcoming 2007 election.

Australia has about 1,500 troops in and around Iraq and, according to recent opinion polls, almost two in three Australians want these forces brought home.