U.S. voices tepid support for Israel-Syria talks

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States voiced tepid support on Wednesday for indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria, a stance that analysts said reflected U.S. doubts about the chances of success.

U.S. officials said they would welcome a peace agreement between the two countries, which have been technically at war since Israel declared independence 60 years ago. But they made clear their focus would be on the Israeli-Palestinian track.

Israel and Syria said they had launched indirect peace talks mediated by Turkish officials in Istanbul, the first confirmation of negotiations between the longtime enemies in eight years after a U.S.-backed effort collapsed in 2000.

The White House said it had no objections to the initiative -- in which U.S. officials are not involved but have been kept informed -- and stressed its concerns about Syria's suspected support for terrorism abroad and its repression at home.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said he hopes to help the Israelis and Palestinians reach some form of peace agreement by the end of the year despite deep skepticism among Israelis, Palestinians and independent analysts that this is possible.

David Welch, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, said Washington would welcome an Israeli-Syrian peace deal but suggested that would be very hard to achieve and the United States would concentrate on Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Alluding to the U.S. view that Syria supports terrorism, allows insurgents to enter Iraq and interferes in Lebanon, Welch said Washington has had "concerns about Syrian behavior in any number of dimensions that suggested to us it would be rather more difficult to pursue that track."

"That Israel has been able to open some sort of indirect conversation about these matters with the Syrian government with the good offices of Turkey is a good thing," he told reporters. "We hope it prospers but where we are making the major investment right now is on the Palestinian track."