CONFLICT IN LEBANON - PEACE WITH ISRAEL?

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, Shaul Mofaz will travel to Washington this week to discuss the possibility of entering into peace talks with Syria. Critics see this as a sign of weakness from an Israeli administration battered after an unsuccessful war with Syria's allies Hizbollah last summer in Lebanon. CLICK HERE TO READ REUTERS REPORT

The only precondition (according to Haaretz) is that discussions on Lebanon remain off limits. Only the Golan can be bargained for. That may be a window for Syria to do as it pleases in Lebanon. The potential impact of the UN tribunal into Hariri's murder is certainly a problem for Syria, but it can probably be watered down if the US thinks Syria worth dealing with over Iraq. SEE ROBERT FISK'S ARTICLE

Bomb blasts in Beirut, the war with 'militants' in the Palestinian camps, political assassinations, put pressure on Lebanon's elected government. They may or may not be the work of Syrian Security Services, but it is only the Syrians who stand to gain from the disruption of Lebanon's stability.

Potential war in Lebanon and war in Iraq could prove to be Syria's making. READ HERE FOR AL-HAYAT's ANALYSIS