Germany and France add weight to U.S. Mideast drive

By Louis Charbonneau and Francois Murphy - Analysis

BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - Germany and France, wielding credibility in the Arab world the United States lacks, have launched a diplomatic drive to help ensure a U.S.-led Middle East peace conference later this month is a success.

This new alliance, which would have been virtually inconceivable four years ago, reflects a shift in attitudes on both sides of the Atlantic, analysts and officials say.

Washington has realized it needs wide European support if it is to achieve anything in the Middle East, while Berlin and Paris are showing a new willingness to help the United States regain some of its lost prestige in the troubled region.

Walter Posch, an analyst at the Paris-based EU Institute for Security Studies, said many people failed to appreciate just how badly the U.S. reputation had been damaged in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

"If they want to do anything in the Middle East, the U.S. needs European partners, in this case France and Germany, to get more credibility," Posch said.

Senior officials from Israel and Arab states are scheduled to meet in Annapolis, Maryland, on November 26-27 to discuss Palestinian statehood. Arab League foreign ministers will meet on Thursday to decide whether to attend.

In the run-up to the Annapolis meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have met numerous top Arab officials to persuade them that their participation is crucial if lasting peace is to be achieved.

"The participation of Arab states will be decisive," said German government spokesman Thomas Steg. "This is why over the last two weeks the chancellor has had intensive discussions with representatives of Arab League member states."

Steinmeier's spokesman, Martin Jaeger, said the minister was lobbying Arab countries like Saudia Arabia, Egypt and Syria to attend the Annapolis meeting to ensure agreements made there will have broad support in the region.

IRAQ WAR LEGACY

Although the United States is undisputedly the most powerful player in the Middle East, diplomats and analysts say Berlin and Paris can wield influence that Washington lacks -- partly because of their opposition to the Iraq war.

The Franco-German lobbying efforts have the full support of Washington and were discussed with U.S. President George W. Bush during the recent visits of Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the United States, diplomats said.

"We have a credibility in the Arab world that the Americans do not," a French official told Reuters.

German and French opposition to the invasion of Iraq soured relations between Paris, Berlin and Washington for years, but Merkel and Sarkozy have worked hard to rebuild transatlantic ties.

Both have said peace in the Middle East is a European priority. They are linking arms with Washington just as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who backs the Annapolis talks, distances himself from America's Iraq policy.