A senior State Department official has confirmed that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Syrian counterpart at an ongoing conference in Egypt. The two were expected to discuss Iraq’s security. Iran, too, has expressed interest in such a meeting, but when asked about that possibility earlier this week President Bush said simply that his top diplomat would not be rude to Iran’s foreign minister.

AP via Yahoo:

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syria’s foreign minister Thursday in the first high-level talks between the two countries in years, a U.S. official said, hours after the chief military spokesman in Iraq said Syria had moved to reduce “the flow of foreign fighters” across its border.

But a substantive meeting between the United States and Iran — another staunch U.S. Mideast foe — appeared less certain.

Rice and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem met on the sidelines of Thursday’s conference. Earlier, a senior State Department official said they would discuss “Iraqi security issues.”

The two-day conference in this Red Sea resort town brings together officials from Iraq, the U.S., Iran, Russia, China, Europe and Arab nations.

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