IRAQ: Syria and Iraq yesterday announced the formal restoration of diplomatic ties, nearly a quarter of a century after they were suspended. It comes as the US and other western powers are being encouraged to explore the option of enlisting Syrian and Iranian help in stabilising Iraq.
The move - welcomed by some western officials as a positive step but one that needed to be backed up by concrete action - was immediately overshadowed by the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon's industry minister.
It was too early to say who was responsible for yesterday's murder but Saad Hariri, head of the parliamentary majority and son of the murdered former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, immediately blamed Damascus, a charge Syrian officials denied.
In recent weeks, senior US officials have adopted an increasingly strident tone towards Syria, accusing it of meddling in Lebanon and aiding Sunni insurgents in Iraq.
Officials have rejected suggestions that the Bush administration should re-engage with Damascus at a high level, having withdrawn its ambassador after the Hariri murder in February 2005.
James Baker, secretary of state when President Bush's father was president, has said the US should talk to its enemies. As co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, he is expected to recommend that the US open avenues to Syria and Iran in an effort to stabilise Iraq.
But there are no signs yet that Damascus is preparing to change its policies on the ground in Iraq.
Walid Moalem, Syria's foreign minister, speaking at a Baghdad press conference with his Iraqi colleague, Hoshyar Zebari, said Syria hoped to turn a new page in its relations with the US.
"I do not want to go back to the former accusations. We seek future co-operation in all fields," he said.
But, say analysts and diplomats in Damascus, Syria is seeking a "package deal" with the US that would see its demands in the region met. These are said to include a US withdrawal from Iraq; restoration of Syrian influence in Lebanon; a halt to the UN investigation into the murder of Mr Hariri; the return of the Israeli-occupied Golan heights; the establishment of a Palestinian state; and a general recognition of Syria's status as a regional power.
"Syria is waiting for an incentive," said Samer Ladkani, of the al-Sharq think-tank, which has close ties to the government.
He warned that "there may be just diplomatic ties without any results on the ground".
The sequence of events yesterday led some diplomats to speculate that President Bashar al-Assad may not be in full control of Syria's intelligence services. However, European officials stressed that there was, as yet, no evidence that showed Damascus was involved in the killing.