DAMASCUS, Syria — As international leaders search for a negotiated end to the violence in Lebanon, there is little doubt that the go-to state is Syria, Hezbollah's powerful ally and perhaps the only Arab state capable of guaranteeing a lasting peace.
But who will go?
The Bush administration's policy of isolating the government of Bashar Assad has left Washington with no high-level contacts in Syria. With no U.S. ambassador in Damascus, a strong system of economic sanctions in place and a refusal to talk with Syrian leaders, Washington is negotiating the most serious Middle East crisis in years through Arab and European intermediaries whose influence is questionable.
The policy has frustrated some U.S. diplomats and prompted a growing chorus in Washington to call for direct contacts not only with Syria, but also possibly with its ally, Iran -- the two biggest backers of militant anti-Israel groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
Without Assad's intervention, no agreement to end Hezbollah rocket attacks or to safely place a new peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon is possible, say those who advocate opening new lines of communication.
By contrast, an order from Syria to halt weapons and other logistical shipments at the Lebanon border could strangle Hezbollah military operations within weeks, military analysts say.
"Of course Syria has the power to make Hezbollah stop fighting. Because while Hezbollah is to a certain degree independent, it needs a political umbrella, and Syria and Iran are that umbrella," said Redwan Ziadeh, a political analyst based in Damascus, the Syrian capital.
In 1998, when Hezbollah was firing rockets into Israel, President Clinton telephoned Syrian President Hafez Assad "to stop Hezbollah, to stop the rockets. And Hezbollah stopped the rockets," Ziadeh said.
In Washington on Friday, Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska became the latest prominent foreign policy expert to call for contacts with Syria.
"America's approach to Syria and Iran is inextricably tied to Middle East peace," Hagel said in a speech to the Brookings Institution. "Whether or not they were directly involved in the latest Hezbollah and Hamas aggression in Israel, both countries exert influence in the region in ways that undermine stability and security.
"Both Damascus and Tehran must hear from America directly," he said.
