No breakthrough expected with Syria: Powell

MADRID: US Secretary of State Colin Powell, in Spain on Thursday at the start of a European and Middle East tour, played down talk of a breakthrough with Syria and said the latest Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed should not be allowed to torpedo renewed peace efforts.

“There will be a candid and straightforward discussion, I’m looking forward to it but I’m not looking forward to any particular deliverables,” Powell said of his scheduled weekend visit to Damascus. “I’m not looking for a specific result,” he told a joint press conference with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio.

Powell is due to arrive in Israel on May 8, where the situation is tense following the publication on Wednesday of the internationally-backed roadmap to revive the Middle East peace process and end 31 months of bloody conflict.

“We’ve got to get beyond this period of suicide bombings and retaliation. We can’t let these sorts of incidents contaminate the roadmap,” Powell said. —AFP

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