Translating the Body Language of Hands Extended, and Not

David E. Sanger and Steven Erlanger, The New York Times:

Papal funerals are not supposed to be about diplomacy, but put this many world leaders in one section of St. Peter's Square, and diplomacy happens. And so, at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, there was news about a president of the United States who did not shake the hands of two Middle Eastern adversaries, and a president of Israel who did. READ MORE

The ceremony put President Bush in rare, close proximity to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and President Mohammad Khatami of Iran. But he did not use it as an opportunity to talk directly with Mr. Assad, with whom his administration has been sparring over Lebanon and Iraq. And while administration officials describe Mr. Khatami as a moderate among Iran's leaders, Mr. Bush had no contact with him, either.

But Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, made the opposite choice. Mr. Assad was one row in back of him, and at one point they exchanged polite smiles. Later, they shook hands, which seemed a remarkable step for leaders of two countries that are still technically at war. Syria's official news agency dismissed the incident as a formality with "no political significance" and said they did not speak, Reuters reported. ...

Mr. Katsav, who was born in Iran, said he did speak to Mr. Khatami, whose nation says it wants Israel destroyed. Mr. Katsav recalled later that as he was leaving at the end of the funeral, "The Iranian president held his hand out to me. I shook his hand and greeted him in Farsi." In Israel, media reports said the men conversed about Yazd, the city in central Iran where both were born.

"Maybe today will make us hope of a future of peace, not of conflict and hatred," Mr. Khatami was quoted as saying in Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper.

[On Saturday, Mr. Khatami denied shaking hands with Mr. Katsav, the official IRNA news agency said, according to Reuters. "I strongly deny shaking hands, meeting and talking to the Israeli president," Mr. Khatami told IRNA, Reuters reported.]

A senior administration official, reached by telephone in Washington, said it was unclear whether Mr. Bush was close enough to either the Syrian or Iranian leaders to speak with them, much less shake hands. "Even if he had been," the official said, "I don't think it would be like the president to initiate that kind of gesture. The moment would be too fraught."

On his flight back to Texas after leaving Rome, Mr. Bush said that he had chatted with President Jacques Chirac of France on the fringes of the ceremony, but he made no mention of the Iranian and Syrian leaders, and was not asked about them.

He said he was focused during the ceremony on memories of the pope, whom he described as "a clear thinker who was like a rock."

"And tides of moral relativism kind of washed around him, but he stood strong as a rock," Mr. Bush said.