DAMASCUS,
November 25 (IslamOnlinen.net & News Agencies) - Syria’s offer
to resume peace negotiations with Israel for a peaceful settlement was
immediately snubbed by Tel Aviv.
UN
Middle East peace envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said Wednesday, November 24,
Damascus was is ready to resume stalled peace talks with Israel
"without conditions," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“President
Assad had reiterated to me today that he has an outstretched hand to
his Israeli counterpart, that he is willing to go to the table without
conditions.”
The
offer was immediately dismissed by the Israeli government as mere
propaganda meant to alleviate mounting pressures from US
administration.
“This
seems to be a propaganda maneuver by the Syrian side,” a senior
Israeli foreign ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The
Syrians are reacting because they have their backs to the wall after
the (US) sanctions and the UN vote on Lebanon.”
He
said Israel will be ready to take the offer seriously if it reaches
out through the correct American channel.
Israel
occupied the Syrian Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and
annexed the area in 1981.
The
area is a grassy plateau overlooking north-eastern Israel and
south-east Syria and have important water resources - providing Israel
with a third of its water needs.
Committed
to Peace
A
Syrian analyst reiterated Syria’s commitment to a peaceful
settlement of the Middle East conflict but played down Larsen's
statements.
“There
is nothing new in Larsen's statements and the Israeli response to the
Syrian offer on resumption of peace talks,” Gamal Barrot told
IslamOnline.net.
“Larsen
is used to creating such a media fuss by his shock statements but no
one takes him seriously even the Israelis.”
A
Syrian information source told AFP earlier on condition of anonymity
that “Syria's stance on peace talks is well known. We push for
resumption of peace negotiations.”
Asked
if Syria still insists on resuming peace talks from where it stopped,
the source replied “it is a logical and procedural issue.”
Killing
Peace
Israel's
rejection of the talks resumption offer makes Tel Aviv solely
responsible for the stalled Middle East peace process, Syrian state
radio said Thursday, November 25.
“The
Israeli reaction to Terje Roed-Larsen's declarations following a
meeting with President Bashar al-Assad shows that the Israeli policy
of deceit and changing tack hasn't changed,” Radio Damascus said in
its daily editorial.
“By
today rejecting peace, Israel wants to kill any hope and block any
international effort aimed at re-launching the peace process,” added
the broadcast.
“It
is time for the world to know that Israel assumes sole responsibility
for preventing peace and for the explosive situation which exists in
the Middle East,” the radio said.
Political
analyst and former government advisor Ahmed Haj-Ali told AFP that
“it was necessary to remove any Israeli pretext” that Syria was
rejecting peace.
“Syria
had to reaffirm its choice in favor of peace. We said: there, we are
ready to make peace, but are the Israelis and the United States as
ready?” Haj-Ali asked.
Already
in December 2003, Israel rejected as “not enough” a Syrian offer
to resume peace talks, with Assad saying that a deal to return the
Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for security guarantees for Israel
had been 80-percent completed when talks broke off in January 2000.
