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Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331162383&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Syria Reaps Considerable Benefit from Talking with Israel
[Jerusalem Post ] Jonathan Spyer - A fourth round of indirect talks between Syrian and Israeli representatives was concluded in Istanbul this week. For the Syrians, the already considerable benefits derived from the very act of talking are more important than the talks themselves. Damascus' allies in Iran have given no sign of real concern that their most important Arab allies are about to jump ship. Damascus' main aim in entering the talks was to use them as a means to rebuild relations with the U.S. and other Western powers, in particular France. Syria is also determined to prevent the functioning of the international tribunal into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri and a string of subsequent political murders in that country. For the cost of the flight tickets and hotel rooms in Istanbul, Assad has ended Syria's isolation. He and his wife found themselves feted in Paris in July where Syria was welcomed into French President Sarkozy's new Mediterranean Forum. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem beamed after his meetings with French officials that the Hariri tribunal had not even been mentioned. With all this rapprochement going on, Syria's alliance with Iran seems safe and sound. Muallem was in Tehran this week where he and President Ahmadinejad reconfirmed their "regional cooperation." The writer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.