By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Nov 27 (Reuters) - A Syrian delegation is in the United States to attend the Middle East peace conference and pursue Damascus' quest to regain the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a Syrian diplomat said.

"We participate with the understanding that the Golan will be discussed. Syria will continue to be committed to the Arab peace initiative as the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East," Ahmad Salkini told Reuters, after the delegation's arrival on Monday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal al-Mekdad, an influential player in Syrian foreign policy is leading the delegation, which includes Syria's ambassador in Washington, Imad Moustapha, and an aide.

The conference, which aims to restart talks on Palestinian statehood opens in Annapolis on Tuesday. The agenda includes a session on reviving Syrian-Israeli peace talks, which collapsed in 2000 over the Golan Heights, a plateau near Damascus occupied by Israel since 1967.

The Arab peace proposal centers on normal ties with Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territory occupied four decades ago, including the Golan.

Veteran Syrian journalist Thabet Salem said Syria has indicated its lack of faith in the conference by sending Mekdad instead of a higher-profile figure.

"Syria knows that its reputation and the popular Arab support it commands for championing Arab rights will suffer if it is seen as selling out," Salem told Reuters.

The Damascus government had repeatedly said it would only attend the U.S.-hosted conference if the Golan Heights were on the agenda and it would accept nothing less than full Israeli withdrawal to sign a peace deal.

The government's Tishreen newspaper said Syria had agreed to go to "test Washington's seriousness about working for peace this time. Its previous intentions have deluded us."

The United States imposed sanctions on Syria in 2004, mainly because of Damascus' support for the Palestinian group Hamas and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah. Both groups oppose the Annapolis conference and describe it as an attempt to dispense with Palestinian rights.

Damascus has also reinforced its alliance with Iran, another major supporter of Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel last year.

Washington partly met Syria's demand to discuss the Golan Heights by sending it a modified copy of the conference's agenda with reference to the territory.

A European diplomat, who did not want to be named, said Syria's participation in the conference could be a prelude to a change in its hard-line policies.

"Syria cannot regain the Golan militarily. It has to compromise and reconsider its relationship with Tehran, Hezbollah and Hamas," the diplomat said. "It is dawning on Syria that the Golan might remain lost forever." (Editing by Chris Wilson)

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