Assad says direct talks with Israel not before 2009

"The date to begin direct talks depends on Israel itself. There is a crisis related to (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert," Al-Khaleej daily quoted Assad as telling local newspaper editors during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Direct talks would not start before next year and "depend on the stability of the Israeli government, and the seriousness of the other party," Assad said.

"The success of these negotiations is dependent on Israeli intentions and political changes in the world," Assad was quoted as saying by the United Arab Emirates official WAM news agency while on a visit to Abu Dhabi.

The Syrian president also said on Monday Turkish-brokered indirect peace talks with Israel would eventually need "international sponsorship" from the U.S., the AFP reported, though the U.S. Department of State spokesman does not think the parties requested such a thing from the U.S.

Israel and Syria announced last month a resumption of peace talks under Turkey's auspices after an eight-year break, as a result of a process that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said began in February 2007.

The last round of peace talks broke down in 2000 over the fate of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community. Those talks were hosted by the United States.

"During later stages, the negotiations will need international sponsorship, particularly that of the United States in their role as a superpower with strong and special relations with Israel," Assad added.

He said the current Turkish-brokered indirect talks were at a "preliminary stage".

Israel must be prepared to return all Syrian lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war as part of any peace deal between the two sides, Assad added.

However U.S. Department of State spokesman Sean McCormack said on Monday at a press conference he didn't think the parties requested such a thing from the U.S., adding Turkey's mediatorship for the solution of the dispute between Israel and Syria was worthy of applause.

"If the sides and all the parties to this want the United States to participate, it's something we would consider. To my knowledge, we haven't been requested to participate in the process. As a matter of fact, the Turkish government should be applauded for the fact that they are working to further the cause of peace in the region," he was quoted by the Anatolian Agency as saying.

McCormack also said the only admonition of the U.S. was that the Syrian-Isreali talks should not substitute or in any way take away from the direct negotiations that were under way between Israel and Palestine.

Photo: AP