Carter, in Damascus, hopes for Israeli-Arab peace by 2012

Jun 11, 2009, 11:36 GMT

Damascus - Former US President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that he hoped that Syria and the Palestinians could make peace with Israel by 2012, after a meeting with Syrian President Basha al-Assad in Damascus.

Carter, who has talks with Hamas scheduled for later Thursday, is officially in the region as a private citizen, according to US diplomatic sources.

However, it is believed to be his third trip to Syria in little over a year.

After meeting al-Assad and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalem Carter said he hoped Hamas would commit to peaceful relations with Israel, in line with the current Arab peace initiative.

Carter said he and the Syrian president had discussed the situation in Iraq, Lebanon and US special Middle East envoy George Mitchell's visit to Syria on Friday and Saturday.

Osama Hamdan is among the Damascus-based Hamas leaders Carter is scheduled to meet.

'Changes are emerging, and new language is being used, especially after (US President) Obama's speech in Cairo last week,' Hamdan told dpa .

'Hamas will listen to what Carter (has to say) about Obama's view and policies towards the resistance in the region,' Hamdan said.

Carter said he expected the Obama administration would seek to find way to engage with Hamas following the conclusion of Egyptian-brokered talks on forming a 'national unity' government between Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo after discussing those efforts with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal stressed that any peace negotiations must involve his group.

'No one in the region or the international community will be able to do anything that can affect the Palestinian-Israeli conflict unless they deal with Hamas,' Meshaal said.

Meshaal is also scheduled to meet with Carter on Thursday evening.

Mitchell is due to arrive in Damascus on Friday at the head of a high-level delegation including US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and National Security Council advisor Mark Shapiro.

The delegation will conduct exploratory talks aimed at arriving at a comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace, a US diplomat in Damascus said.