Epstein Secrets

si, Mohamed Saeed Raslan, Talaat Zahran, Abu Bakr Maher bin Attiya, Gamal Abdel-Rahman, Ali Hasheesh and

g pragmatically and constructively. They are opening the door to negotiations that could begin as soon as December. This development is leading the Quartet (the U.S., EU, Russia, and the UN) to think beyond their plans from last year, when they could not manage to bring the parties together, according

ettlement by year's end. Thus UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry expressed the Secretary General's hope that the Quartet partners, in consultation with the parties, would chart a "new, credible political way ahead" in the coming months. It remains to be seen how Isra

ition. Assad still talks of his desire for new reform laws. But U.S. officials say he has supported (or acceded to) hard-liners led by his brother Maher, who is commander of the Republican Guard, and Hafez Makhlouf, a cousin who heads other security forces. The Syrian equation is shaped by two "X-fa

f Israel as a Jewish state, something they have long refused. Last week, the United States tried to build support for such a quid pro quo from the Quartet, a Middle East peacemaking group that also includes the European Union, the United Nations and Russia. Winning the Quartet's endorsement would have

ition. Assad still talks of his desire for new reform laws. But U.S. officials say he has supported (or acceded to) hard-liners led by his brother Maher, who is commander of the Republican Guard, and Hafez Makhlouf, a cousin who heads other security forces. The Syrian equation is shaped by two "X-fa

f Israel as a Jewish state, something they have long refused. Last week, the United States tried to build support for such a quid pro quo from the Quartet, a Middle East peacemaking group that also includes the European Union, the United Nations and Russia. Winning the Quartet's endorsement would have