American Jewish leaders tour Arab states to lobby for Syria treaty

JERUSALEM [MENL] -- An American Jewish delegation launched a tour of the Arab world on Monday to lobby for their support for an Israeli-Syrian peace treaty, including economic aid to Damascus.

The delegation is being led by Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman and will visit Amman, Cairo and Riyad. The visit to the Saudi capital is a rare occurrence as Jews are normally barred from entering the kingdom.

"We want to see the region's reaction to a Syrian peace agreement and where these countries stand," Foxman said.

Foxman said he envisions a multinational effort to finance a Syrian economic recovery. This, he said, would include the United States, Japan, the European Union and Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors.

"I definitely envision the prospect of U.S. direct aid to Syria in a combination with other countries," Foxman said.

On Sunday, Foxman's delegation held talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and presented Arafat with gifts of Jewish art.

Foxman said Arafat complained of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's decision to suspend a West Bank redeployment scheduled for Thursday.

Earlier, several leading members of Congress said they would oppose U.S. aid to Syria unless Damascus is removed from the State Department list of terrorist nations. But analysts and congressional analysts said President Bill Clinton would remove Syria from the State Department list in wake of any peace treaty between Jerusalem and Damascus.

On Monday, a European Union delegation led by former Council of Ministers secretary-general Javier Solana arrived for talks in Israel regarding support for any peace treaty with Syria. Diplomatic sources said the EU has expressed willingness to help facilitate such issues as economic recovery and water resources.

In a related development, Finance Minister Avraham Shohat plans to hold talks with U.S. officials in Washington this week to discuss an aid package to compensate for the loss of the Golan Heights in any peace treaty with Israel.