US Mideast envoy seeks help from Arab nations to restart Israel, Palestinian talks

US envoy: Syria, Lebanon key to Mideast peace

DAMASCUS, Syria — U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell said Wednesday that Syria and Lebanon were key to achieving peace in the Middle East.

Mitchell was in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday and traveled to neighboring Damascus at the start of a regional tour aimed at restarting Middle East peace talks.

The visit is part of a U.S. effort to end Israel’s conflicts with the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon and, more broadly, normalize Israel’s ties with the rest of the Arab world.

“Syria, certainly has an important role to play in all these efforts, as do the U.S. and international community,” Mitchell added in a brief statement to reporters after a meeting with President Bashar Assad in Damascus.

Mitchell’s visit to Syria is the third since he was appointed as U.S. Mideast peace envoy. Washington withdrew its ambassador to Damascus in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

But relations have eased under President Barack Obama.

Earlier in Beirut, Mitchell said Lebanon is key to regional peace.

In a statement, he said Lebanon would play a key role in efforts to build lasting and comprehensive peace and stability in the Middle East.

Mitchell is also traveling to Israel and the Palestinian territories in his latest diplomatic mission to the region. The former senator is trying to persuade both sides to resume talks aimed at ending their decades-old conflict.

Previous talks broke off in December 2008.

The Palestinians have refused to resume negotiations until Israel halts all its settlement construction in lands captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.