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Syrian President Bashar Assad. (AP)
Last update - 08:18 16/03/2008
Report: Syria wants 'public' peace talks with Israel
By Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters
Tags: terrorism, Israel, Hezbollah 

The Prime Minister's Bureau denied Saturday reports of a planned meeting between high-ranking Israeli and Syrian officials in Turkey some 10 days ago.

According to Channel 2 television, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's chief of staff, Yoram Turbowicz, was to meet with a senior official in Ankara in order to discuss the resumption of peace talks between the two countries.

Channel 2 reported Saturday that the meeting was set up with Turkish mediation, but canceled due to the escalation in fighting in the Gaza Strip.
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The Prime Minister's Bureau said, however, that "the report is false. No meeting was scheduled, no meeting was supposed to take place and no meeting with a Syrian official was canceled."

Earlier Saturday, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that Syria had recently relayed a message to Israel conveying the county's interest in peace talks with Israel, but on the condition that talks be held openly and not under fire.

According to the report, Damascus passed the message on to Israel via Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The newspaper said the Syrians demand a series of conditions in that message that must be fulfilled before it will commence a peace process, the first of which is the condition that talks will not be held "under fire." The Syrians explained that by "under fire" they do not mean an armed conflict between Israel and Syria, but rather the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Another Syrian condition is that the talks be held publicly, and accompanied by Israeli gestures to assure the Syrians that they are ready to withdraw from all "occupied Arab territories," Al-Akhbar reported.

A third condition, according to the report, is that Israel hold simultaneous diplomatic talks with Lebanon and the Palestinians alongside peace talks with Syria.

However, "knowledgeable" sources told Al-Akhbar that Damascus estimates that the United States isn't interested in Israel holding talks with Syria, and will act to prevent such talks from taking place.

Sources: Israel warned Syria it could pay price for any Hezbollah attack

In contrast to the Syrian peace overtures, Israel has recently conveyed a stern message to Damascus, also via a third party, stating that it would hold Damascus accountable for any Hezbollah attacks, Israeli and European sources said on Friday.

Israel recently conveyed a warning to Syria through a third party that
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the warning stemmed largely from Israeli concerns that the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah would launch salvoes of cross-border rockets to coincide with any major Israeli offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The sources said the message was conveyed in February through at least one European intermediary following the assassination of a top Hezbollah commander and before this month's five-day Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip in which more than 120 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed.

After the group's senior commander, Imad Mughniyah, was killed in a bombing in Damascus, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel with "open war".

Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah and its main backer, Iran, accused Israel of being behind the assassination, a charge Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office denied.

A European source familiar with the matter said the message conveyed to Damascus said Syria could be targeted by Israel even if Hezbollah's attack emanated from Lebanese soil.

An Israeli source with knowledge of government affairs said: "The message was passed around late February, before the last round of fighting in Gaza."

"It has become clear to us Syria has to understand there is a price for its use of proxy terrorism, especially as Damascus is itself a proxy - the long-arm of Iran," the source said.

Another senior government official with knowledge of defense affairs declined comment on whether or not a message had been sent to Damascus, but told reporters that "this is sound strategy. Syria has significantly deepened its involvement with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon since the [2006 Second Lebanon] war."

Asked about the risk of an Israeli attack on Syria in response to a Hezbollah attack, a British official said "there is always a danger that a turn of events here could prompt something on the northern border, which would be a disaster."

"The death of Mughniyah, the threatened Hezbollah retaliation, does leave a specter of a wider regional conflict," the official said, playing down the chances of opening an Israeli-Syrian peace track under the circumstances.

"There's an interest on both sides but I think it's very difficult to move forward on it," the official said, citing close ties between Syria and Iran. "It's become far more difficult the idea of an Israeli-Syrian deal."

Related articles:
  • Nasrallah: Mughniyah's blood will lead to elimination of Israel
  • Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyah killed in Damascus blast
  • PMO denies Israeli role in Imad Mughniyah's death
  • ANALYSIS: Question now is not whether Hezbollah will respond, but how
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      1.   Israel quick to `talk` with Syria about war 22:07  |  Observer 14/03/08
      2.   Assad, the wise man, just raises his shoulders... 22:12  |  Dutch Dirk 14/03/08
      3.   Seems so simple 22:14  |  Rav Harley 14/03/08
      4.   And What Price Might Be ??? 22:29  |  Cool B 14/03/08
      5.   here is the scenario 22:44  |  leo 14/03/08
      6.   Syria would pay the price? 23:00  |  Paul Wood 14/03/08
      7.   Its about time 23:04  |  Danite 14/03/08
      8.   lips service 23:07  |  tom 14/03/08
      9.   Trying to create a casus belli,to provide cover for aggression 23:11  |  lakshmi 14/03/08
      10.   Peace? 23:11  |  Peace 14/03/08
      11.   Dutch Dirk 23:16  |  Firefighter 14/03/08
      12.   Here we go again.....Same song from Israel 23:16  |  Sami 14/03/08
      13.   Avi 23:18  |  Firefighter 14/03/08
      14.   paul wood 23:19  |  alan 14/03/08
      15.   Very dangerous game 23:20  |  Alan the real one 14/03/08
      16.   How to deal with the Pals 23:25  |  Weaver 14/03/08
      17.   Paul Wood 23:26  |  Firefighter 14/03/08
      18.   Dutch Dirk - your threats are silly 23:30  |  Jewboy 14/03/08
      19.   Sami - what happened to Syria? 23:43  |  Jewboy 14/03/08
      20.   Cool B 23:46  |  Firefighter 14/03/08
      21.   Siria and Iran 23:47  |  Pedro 14/03/08
      22.   Attack Iran - the true head of the snake 23:47  |  mike the truthsayer 14/03/08
      23.   #15 Alan of Toronto 23:57  |  Paul Wood 14/03/08
      24.   #13 you are a liar, plain and simple 00:01  |  McQueen 15/03/08
      25.   Who raises the stakes? and why? 00:05  |  John 15/03/08
      26.   Syria is safe. 00:10  |  Paulo 15/03/08
      27.   Israel has no right to accuse anybody, us-israeli plan to drag 00:13  |  mehmet 15/03/08
      28.   barak and hezbollah 00:17  |  geroge 15/03/08
      29.   Syria has offered peace, Israel will not accept 00:19  |  Harold 15/03/08
      30.   What does that probably mean? 00:23  |  TonyL 15/03/08
      31.   Re; Dutch Dirk 00:28  |  Dutch Dirk 15/03/08
      32.   The Difference is that... 00:31  |  hyperthenuss 15/03/08
      33.   IDF just itching for another war 00:33  |  peacelover 15/03/08
      34.   #7 Paul Wood - termites are eating you 00:39  |  * BEN JABO 15/03/08
      35.   More idiocy 00:53  |  Mark Lincoln 15/03/08
      36.   Danite #8: shalom, Danite - 00:59  |  ivo 15/03/08
      37.   Paul Wood, Dutch Dirk 01:00  |  Think Again 15/03/08
      38.   Lost in Space 01:13  |  NJ 15/03/08
      39.   Gutless 01:14  |  Mike 15/03/08
      40.   Dutch Jerk 01:15  |  Larry 15/03/08
      41.   Dutch Dirk 01:16  |  Firefighter 15/03/08
      42.   ISRAELI THREATMONGERING AND SCARE TACTICS 01:51  |  BigBadJohn 15/03/08
      43.   Makes sense. Hezbollah has more support in Syria than Lebanon 01:57  |  Mike 15/03/08
      44.   ...think for a second... 02:07  |  JTO 15/03/08
      45.   #36 BigBadMisinformedJohn 02:11  |  * BEN JABO 15/03/08
      46.   how can 6Million THREAT 1500? 02:13  |  carlos 15/03/08
      47.   I really love Israel...just to scared to live there 02:15  |  * BEN JABO 15/03/08
      48.   # 15 alan 02:16  |  Axel 15/03/08
      49.   to: Mark Lincoln 02:16  |  JTO 15/03/08
      50.   * BEN JABO in my controll room in my basement in USA 02:19  |  * BEN JABO 15/03/08
      51.   Hezbollah has 30,000 rockets How many does Syria have? 02:40  |  Harold 15/03/08
      52.   I have had the same job at Burger King for 25 yrs 02:59  |  * BEN JABO 15/03/08
      53.   paul wood 03:05  |  alan 15/03/08
      54.   Wordly wisdom 03:26  |  Paul 15/03/08
      55.   hyperthenuss 03:29  |  paul 15/03/08
      56.   SYRIA HAS RUSSIAN PROTECTION 03:54  |  BigBadJohn 15/03/08
      57.   the price must be too high 04:03  |  issam ghallab 15/03/08
      58.   Smart Idea 04:09  |  Khalil 15/03/08
      59.   @22, bravo pedro. where are you from? 04:27  |  vladimir 15/03/08
      60.   THE THREAT WAS RELAYED VIA TURKEY 04:33  |  BigBadJohn 15/03/08
      61.   Is "it" back on? 04:36  |  Mark Lincoln 15/03/08
      62.   #57 BigBadJohn 04:45  |  Think Again 15/03/08
      63.   Minus the Golan - Syria uses South Lebanon 04:49  |  Shafrir Yisraeli 15/03/08
      64.   Israel Warns? What a joke! 05:11  |  Atoo 15/03/08
      65.   Appropriate 05:25  |  Ron 15/03/08
      66.   # 13 Sami....Syria needs to get out of Lebanon 05:33  |  Lynn 15/03/08
      67.   Syria is not stupid 05:51  |  US CITIZEN 15/03/08
      68.   # 61 Big Dumb John...They buzzed a carrier near Japan 05:56  |  Lynn 15/03/08
      69.   Too scared of Hizbullah 06:02  |  Steve the Pals. 15/03/08
      70.   ivo hello 06:11  |