UK News 17-12-2002 Britain To Host Middle East Peace Talks who: Tony Blair what: To host Middle East peace talks where: LONDON when: Next month snippet: "Tony Blair tried to breathe new life into Middle East peace talks yesterday by inviting Palestinian leaders to London next month," reports The Telegraph. "He issued the invitation after an unprecedented but awkward meeting at Downing Street with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria." "He has asked the Quartet group - the EU, America, Russia and the UN - to join Palestinian leaders to discuss ways of accelerating reform," explains The Times, "and how the international community can help." Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan will also be represented. Yasser Arafat is not expected to attend. Meanwhile, President Assad "claimed Hamas and Islamic Jihad fundraisers in Damascus were press officers, not terrorists," according to The Mirror. "He warned the Arab world would not tolerate war on Iraq without UN backing" and "refused to bow to demands for action against militants responsible for suicide bombs in Israel." But The Guardian says the meeting sent a tacit message to the Bush administration that it is more desirable to talk to, rather than needlessly antagonise, governments (such as Syria, Libya and Sudan) "whose policies and perspectives do not mesh neatly with the US (or British) global outlook." Put it this way, writes Robert Fisk in The Independent, "America puts Syria on the `sponsor of terrorism` list and Tony Blair invites Bashar Assad to London. He gets the red carpet treatment." [... more]

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