Syrian, Israeli officials to meet in Baku
DAMASCUS : A Syrian and an Israeli official are expected to meet in Baku later Saturday on the sidelines of president Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Azerbaijan, a diplomatic source in Damascus with knowledge of the issue said.
'There will be a meeting between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of the visit being conducted by Sharaa in Baku,' said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation which neighbours its arch foe Iran.
The diplomatic source stressed that Sharaa himself would not attend the Baku meeting, which would focus on 'the recent Israeli military presence in Syria'.
After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets falling into the hands of the Islamist-led interim administration headed by Sharaa.
It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces on the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria.
Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbours, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks.
His government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement which created the buffer zone.
Israel has repeatedly characterised Sharaa's government as jihadist, in reference to his past links with Al-Qaeda.
But late last month, foreign minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalisation agreement with Syria.
A Syria government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was 'premature'.
But during a visit to Lebanon this week, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: 'The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel'.
After meeting Sharaa in Riyadh in May, US President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalised their relations with Israel.
'(Sharaa) said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,' Trump said.
The Syrian president arrived in Baku earlier Saturday for talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan announced it would begin exporting gas to Syria via Turkey, according to a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency.
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