Syrian-American negotiator Ibrahim Suleiman said Thursday that Damascus is prepared to begin peace talks with Israel, adding that he believed an initial agreement could be reached within six months.

"Since 1948 Israeli leaders have said they are ready to talk peace anytime and anywhere," Suleiman told reporters at a news conference after addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Commitee. "Syria right now is ready to speak peace."

"I challenged the Israeli government to answer President Bashar [Assad]'s call for peace and sit down together," he added. "I think it can happen in six months."

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David Baker, an official in the Prime Minister's Office, said in response: "The position of the Israeli government remains the same. The Syrian government is not pursuing peace but is merely posturing."

"Syria continues to be more interested in providing safe haven to the 11 terrorist groups it is harboring in Damascus and fomenting terror against Israel wherever it can," Baker added.

The peace plan drafted during the unofficial Syrian-Israeli negotiations would allow Syria to cut itself off from the Hezbollah and join the global struggle against terror, Suleiman told the committee on Thursday.

Suleiman appeared before the committee alongside Alon Liel, former director general of the Foreign Ministry. The two briefed the committee members on the secret, unofficial talks they conducted, and on the understandings they reached for a peace agreement between Israel and Syria.

The centerpiece of the "non-paper" they drafted is a proposal to turn part of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981, into a "peace park." Syria would be the sovereign in all of the Golan, but Israelis could visit the park freely, without visas.

In addition, territory on both sides of the border would be demilitarized along a 4:1 ratio in Israel's favor.

Liel, who represented the unofficial Israeli delegation during the negotiations, told the committee that he had informed the ministry of the talks and that Suleiman had met with Israeli inspectors over the issue.

Suleiman asked the Israeli government to allow him to meet with 12 Syrian citizens who are currently serving time in Israeli prisons - one Syrian who crossed the border and was captured, and 12 Golan Heights Druze who also hold Syrian citizenship.

MKs promise to help Suleiman meet with imprisoned Syrian
The Syrian representative raised the issue during the committee hearing, and several MKs promised to ensure that he could meet with the Syrian who crossed the border before the end of his visit Friday afternoon. Suleiman said such a meeting would be seen as a gesture of goodwill by Damascus.

Suleiman is the first Syrian to address lawmakers in Israel. On his way out of the meeting, Suleiman said he was very glad to have come to Israel.

"I am hoping that the officials in Israel and the officials in Syria will start meeting with one another and that we, as a private channel, should disappear now," he said. "My presence here will make everything useful."

Suleiman said he has no doubts that Assad is genuine in his desire for peace, as are the Syrian people. He said that in previous peace talks between Israel and Syria, 80 percent of the issues in dispute were resolved, adding that in his opinion the Shepherdstown talks in 2000 would not have broken down had the contents of the emerging agreement not been leaked to the media.

The invitation to Suleiman was extended so the panel could assess his claims to ties with top figures in the Damascus regime. Israel, which has acknowledged his talks with Liel but distanced itself from them, has questioned the quality of his contacts.

Suleiman, who landed in Israel on Tuesday, was told the MKs about a committee appointed by Syrian President Bashar Assad to coordinate the talks with Israel, which is headed by one of his army generals with whom Suleiman has regular contact.

In addition, he relayed messages he received from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and other Syrian officials.

In the hearing, Liel disclosed the contents of the reports he allegedly gave to officials in the Foreign Ministry regarding his progress in the talks. Liel also reported to various parties in the Prime Minister's Bureau when it was headed by former prime minister Ariel Sharon.

"There is a genuine willingness in Damascus to initiate peace talks with Israel, which at the very least requires Israel to test the waters," Suleiman told Israeli sources during his stay.

Labor MK Danny Yatom said during the hearing that he has approached Syrian sources during the past few weeks in an effort to begin unofficial negotiations.

Yatom said he was turned down, and that the Syrians are continuing to demand that any negotiations be official. "They have always been concerned that unofficial negotiations would end in leaks that are embarrassing to Syria," he said.

During the hearing, a difference of opinion emerged between Suleiman and Uzi Arad, who also participated in the secret talks. Arad said Suleiman told him that the Assad family does not want peace, but Suleiman denied the conversation ever took place.

National Union-National Religious Party MK Zvi Hendel said as a result that, "Until now I thought they Syrians were liars, and now I know that they are telling the truth - they want negotiations, not peace."

Foreign Ministry rejects Suleiman meeting with Israeli officials
Despite Suleiman's interest in meeting with senior Israeli officials during his visit, the Foreign Ministry decided against such a move. The ministry's director general, Aharon Abramowitz, explained that Suleiman's request had been denied "to avoid giving a false impression, as though he were engaged in official talks with the State of Israel." Abramowitz added that, "If Syria wanted to conduct official talks, it had other avenues available to it."

The Prime Minister's Bureau had similar reservations, as it did when Haaretz first exposed the existence of the talks in January. By contrast, MK Zahava Gal-On, who initiated the committee discussion, expressed her hope that after the MKs hear what Suleiman has to say, they would realize his immediate connection to the Syrian leadership. "Some think he doesn't enjoy any sort of valid status in Damascus. The hearing will give us a chance to examine just that," she said.

On Wednesday Suleiman visited Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, in Jerusalem. Suleiman said he hoped "we will be able to live together in peace, and put all the killing and incitement behind us," adding that "the peoples of the Middle East need to think of the future of their children and grandchildren."

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