Middle East - US envoy in Syria and Israel

Mitchell meets Barak in Israel, after talks with Syria's Assad

Article published on the 2009-07-26 Latest update 2009-07-27 14:10 TU

George Mitchell meets President Bashar al Assad
(Photo: Reuters)

US Middle East envoy George Mitchell described his talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday as "candid and positive". He went on to meet Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, as Washington tries to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

"I have just completed a very candid and positive conversation with President Assad," Mitchell said in Damascus.

"I discussed with President Assad the prospects for moving forward on our goals of comprehensive peace in the region and improved bilateral ties between Syria and the United States."

Mitchell later arrived in Israel and went into a meeting with Defence Minister Ehud Barak, with the talks due to focus on US demands that Israel halt all settlement activity.

On Monday he is to meet Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah and on Tuesday he is to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrives in Israel on Monday to meet Barak and Netanyahu, while National Security Advisory James Jones is expected to arrive on Tuesday.

This is Mitchell's secoond visit to Syria as US envoy.

"It seems that there are positive signs on the Syrian side which have encouraged Mr Mitchell to come back to Damascus," says analyst Thabet Salem.

"The fact that Turkish Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan was in Damascus a few days ago also is an additional sign that something is going on," he told RFI. "I think that the best possible guess is that the Syrian-Israeli unofficial talks will be resumed soon."