The United States has confirmed reports by Syrian officials that it told the Damascus government that it will reduce trade restrictions which were imposed five years ago for supporting organized terror against Israel. Washington has also confirmed that U.S. President Barack Obama has sent letters to Arab heads of state to push them for confidence-building measures towards Israel.
Syria and Israel are officially at war. Negotiations between the two countries have been mediated by Turkey throughout the years. However, at the crux of the dispute is the final status of the Golan, which Israel conquered in 1967 after it was attacked by Syria.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday that Obama alluded to some of these steps in his Cairo speech. “The President has called on all sides to take steps to create a climate for the resumption and the conclusion of negotiations towards a two-state solution. So I don't think this is anything extraordinary,” Gibbs said.
U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell assured Syrian President Bashir el-Assad that the processing of permits to allow exporting hi-tech equipment to Syria would be speeded up. The ease in exports would pave the way for Syria to receive spare aircraft parts, information-technology products, and telecommunications equipment.
The White House press secretary stated that Mitchell’s visit to Israel, along with General James Jones and Defense Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Council director Dennis Ross are “in order to continue our push to see progress on aspects of long-term Middle East peace.”
Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad told the Wall Street Journal, “We received assurances that the relations between the two countries should resume on the basis of mutual interests and most importantly on the basis of mutual respect.”
Although Damascus welcomes the move, the formal lifting of sanctions against Syria has not yet occurred. U.S. President George W. Bush authorized the Syria Accountability Act in 2004 in response to Syria’s funding Hizbullah and Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians.