The Syrian president said that his country will not attend the November peace conference on the Palestinian question, called for by US President George Bush, unless the occupation of the Golan Heights is also an item on the agenda.

On the one hand this is understandable, since an end to the Arab-Israeli conflicts cannot be reached as long as peace efforts are not comprehensive; in other words, talks must be extended to the occupied Syrian territory for any regional peace agreement to be lasting.

It has been repeatedly said that there can be no peace in the Middle East until the Syrian file is justly addressed.

There are, after all, UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 that also apply to the occupied Syrian lands and sooner or later will have to be implemented.

On the other hand, however, the projected peace conference is being specially convened to deal with the Palestinian question.

Being the core issue in the Middle East, the Palestinian conflict deserves special scrutiny and attention so that its resolution can lay the groundwork for a comprehensive peace in the region.

In order for the November gathering to succeed in dealing with final status issues that still divide Israel and the Palestinians, its agenda must not be congested with other items, as important as they indeed are.

The resolution of the Palestinian problem requires focus so that there can be a real chance to move forward on the road to establish a free and independent Palestinian state.

Being a regional power, Syria’s participation in the November meeting is vital. Once the Palestinian question has been solved, there will be need to convene a separate conference to address the Syrian Golan issue. And once the pertinent resolutions are implemented on Arab territory occupied by Israel, there can be real peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

An early commitment by Washington and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council to convene such a conference on the Golan Heights is thus necessary and certain to ensure a positive Syrian response vis-à-vis all regional issues.