Syria, Egypt call for talks on creation of Palestinian state

DAMASCUS - Israel should open negotiations with Palestinians on the creation of a Palestinian state, the leaders of Syria and Egypt said after a meeting in Damascus on Wednesday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak said Israel should "start negotiations for the establishment of the independent Palestinian state", according to reports carried by the official news agencies of the two Arab states.

Assad and Mubarak also said Palestinian factions should work "to achieve their commitments toward the establishment of an independent state."

The two leaders "emphasized their support for dialogue between Palestinian factions under Egyptian patronage to achieve unity in Palestinian ranks", the agencies said.

Egypt has been working for months on a plan to help the Palestinians reorganize their security forces and reach a political agreement for cooperation between all the Palestinian factions after an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Palestinian factions, including the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and the Islamist groups which oppose him, resumed a dialogue on Monday at an undisclosed location in Egypt to discuss post-withdrawal arrangements.

Mubarak and Assad held their hurriedly arranged meeting a day after a divisive debate in the Arab League over Syrian troops in Lebanon.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency reported Mubarak's talks with Assad but did not give a reason for the unscheduled meeting.

Mubarak's spokesman Maged Abdel Fattah earlier said the presidents were to discuss Iraq, the Palestinian conflict and this month's UN Security Council resolution on Syria's role in Lebanon. In Cairo on Tuesday night, Fattah had said Mubarak would fly to Syria to discuss how to deal with the UN resolution "in a framework of reality and practicality."

Fattah's words showed some Arab states were concerned that the Arab League had not adopted the correct approach when it failed to mention the resolution in its final communiqué Tuesday and issued a statement expressing support for the "special relations between Syria and Lebanon."

The Security Council resolution of September 2 called for the withdrawal of foreign forces in Lebanon - a reference to Syria's 20,000 troops in the country - and for the holding of presidential elections. Hours later pro-Syrian legislators in the Lebanese parliament voted to extend for three years the term of President Emile Lahoud, a Syrian supporter.

In a rare challenge to a fellow Arab country, Jordan and six Gulf Arab nations urged Syria to respect the resolution, which was sponsored by the United States, France, Britain and Germany. At the Arab League on Tuesday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher argued strongly, with the Gulf states' support, for Syria to comply, according to a league official who witnessed the debate in closed session.

But Syria and Lebanon opposed the UN resolution, and the league debate ended with the 22-nation body adopting the consensus position of support for the traditionally close ties between Syria and Lebanon.

The league statement also supported Lebanon's "sovereign right to practice its political choices within constitutional institutions" - an implicit rejection of the Security Council's call for presidential elections to be held as scheduled.

Syrian forces entered Lebanon in 1976 as peacekeepers during the 1975-90 civil war. Under the 1989 Tail agreement that led to the end of the war, Syrian forces were allowed to stay in Lebanon until the two governments negotiated their withdrawal.

Lebanese critics of Syria complain that its dominance precludes the formation of a Lebanese government that would push for withdrawal. At the Arab Summit in Tunis this year, Arab diplomats privately accused the Lebanese delegation of always towing the Syrian line.

	Egyptian President Mubarak arrived for a surprise meeting in Damascus on Wednesday. (Archive)