Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said Thursday that Syria would not participate in a United States-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland next month. Assad explained that participating in the conference would not forward his goal of retaking the Golan.
US diplomats have not issued official invitations to the event, which is to take place in late November. Leaders in the Palestinian Authority and elsewhere in the Arab world have expressed pessimism regarding the conference, and PA leaders have threatened not to participate if Israel does not make concessions in advance.