Israel, Mideast Foes in Historic Handshake at Vatican

[emad]

Fri Apr 8, 2005 10:16 AM EST
By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's president said he shook hands with the leaders of Syria and Iran at a Vatican funeral Friday when in his death Pope John Paul brought together Middle East foes as no man alive ever had.

Gathered with hundreds of international dignitaries, Israel's Moshe Katsav had historic chance encounters with President Bashar Assad of Syria, a country formally at war with the Jewish state, and President Mohammad Khatami of Iran.

A senior Israeli government official said it was too early to say whether the contacts, believed to be the first time an Israeli president had shaken hands with Syrian and Iranian leaders, would translate into future diplomacy.

There was no immediate comment from Iran or Syria on the encounters, first reported by Israel Radio. Nor was it clear whether they were captured on film or videotape.

http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-04-08T151552Z_01_L08658617_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-POPE-ISRAEL-SYRIA-DC.XML