Bypassing differences

There is no real new warmth in Egyptian-Syrian relations, writes Dina Ezzat. It's simply a situation of mutual accommodation

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Mubarak and Al-Sharaa agree to set a positive tone in the lead-up to the Arab summit

The consecutive visits by Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Farouk Al-Sharaa and leading Lebanese majority leader Saad Al-Hariri to Cairo on Tuesday and Wednesday sparked speculation over Egyptian involvement in the containment of Syrian-Lebanese tension and a consequent return of warm ties between Cairo and Damascus. However, there are not enough signs to support the optimism. If anything, Cairo and Damascus have apparently decided to bypass rather than resolve their differences over Syria's role in Lebanon in favour of a more positive regional atmosphere.

"I am very comfortable with the meeting I just had with President Mubarak," Al-Sharaa said in Cairo on Tuesday after a 90-minute meeting. Presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad also qualified the meeting as a sign "of the keenness of both [Egypt and Syria] to set a positive tone ahead of the Arab summit."

The annual Arab summit is scheduled to be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on 28 and 29 March. A key issue on the agenda will be Syrian involvement in Lebanon and the political polarisation in Lebanon between supporters and opponents of Damascus's influence over Beirut.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have all but frozen their relationship with Syria over the involvement of Damascus in Lebanon. Lebanese sources opposed to Syria's influence over their country say Cairo and Riyadh believe the Syrian role in Lebanon has evolved into unhealthy interference in the interests of Lebanon and the region in general. The result was a breakdown in the tripartite Syrian- Egyptian-Saudi coordination that marked the 1990s, during the era of former Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad. Eventually, Syria became isolated within the Arab world.

Today, however, it seems that in anticipation of its participation in the Arab summit where Syria wishes to reactivate its Arab ties, there is a new tone of communication between Cairo and Damascus, and between Damascus and Riyadh.

Informed sources say the message Al-Sharaa conveyed to Mubarak from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was not necessarily about full reconciliation but indicated sufficient will to exercise accommodation. The crux of the message is that Syria would encourage its allies in Lebanon -- the political opposition -- to pursue the reconciliation process launched by the Arab League and currently sponsored by Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, Syria reiterated that it is willing to accept that the Lebanese set up an international tribunal to try the killers of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri but will not allow Syrian officials being tried before such a court unless its statute is modified in accordance with Syrian law.

Despite continued scepticism, Cairo seemed willing to listen with an open mind. The issue was subject to deliberations yesterday between President Mubarak and Al-Hariri.

Following his talks with Mubarak, Al-Hariri told reporters at the presidential headquarters in Cairo that Egypt supported the right of the Lebanese to have an international tribunal.

Meanwhile, Syria, according to the sources, would also refrain from making any antagonistic political statements and would instead focus on reaching out to Arab countries. While in Cairo on Tuesday, Al-Sharaa was keen to disassociate his president from any attack on Arab leaders or Arab capitals.

Moreover, as Al-Sharaa himself indicated in press statements following his meeting with Mubarak, Syria will cooperate with all concerned regional and international parties to promote stability in Iraq.

Al-Sharaa's visit to Cairo came three days after Syrian-American talks in Baghdad as part of a wider regional and international conference held in the Iraqi capital to examine all possible contributions to the stability of civil war-torn Iraq. It also came as Damascus received an assistant to the US secretary of state who arrived in the Syrian capital on Tuesday to discuss matters related to the huge flow of Iraqi refugees to Syria and other neighbouring countries.

Al-Sharaa qualified the Syrian-American talks as generally promising but added they still have a long way to go. Egypt, for its part, is willing to encourage such dialogue to reduce the level of regional tension since it encourages Syria to opt for less confrontational views on dealing with the US in Iraq and Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories. Cairo is also hopeful that a good Syrian-American dialogue and better Syrian-Arab communication would encourage Damascus to reconsider its close alliance with Tehran, perceived in many Arab capitals as a source of radicalism across the Arab region.

Neither Al-Sharaa nor Awad spoke of a potential Syrian meeting with the rest of the Arab world in the lead-up to the Arab summit. However, neither official excluded such a meeting.

The future of Egyptian-Syrian relations is likely to be determined by Syria's level of commitment to induce regional stability. Ties could be advanced by parallel progress in Syria's relations with key international players, expected in view of a fairly successful visit to Damascus this week by European Union Higher Commissioner for Political and Security Issues Javier Solana.

Whatever the developments, it is unlikely that tripartite Egyptian-Syrian-Saudi coordination will be revived any time soon.