Posted on 05/21/2008 5:42:38 AM PDT by SJackson
Syrian FM: Israel committed to a full withdrawal from Golan By HERB KEINON AND JPOST.COM STAFF Print Subscribe E-mail Toolbar Share article:
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Damascus received commitments for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights up to the June 4, 1967 border during Turkish-brokered indirect talks, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said on Wednesday.
A view of the Golan Heights. Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
Slideshow: Pictures of the week "We received commitments for a withdrawal from the Golan to the June 4, 1967 line," Moallem told AFP during a visit to Bahrain. "This is not new. It started since Rabin's pledge [for a pullout] in 1993, and all subsequent Israeli prime ministers abided by it."
Earlier, in a dramatic announcement, the Prime Minister's Office said that Israel and Syria have begun indirect peace talks.
The announcement comes after months of reports of unofficial messages going back and forth from Jerusalem to Damascus through Turkey, and was simultaneously announced in Ankara and Damascus.
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"Israel and Syria have begun indirect peace talks with the Syrians, under the auspices of Turkey," the statement read. "The two sides have declared their intention to conduct the negotiations in good faith and with openness."
The statement said Syria and Israel have agreed to carry out the dialogue in a serious and continuous manner with the aim of reaching a comprehensive peace within the framework set up at the Madrid Conference.
According to the statement the two sides thanked Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for their role in the talks and for their "generous hospitality."
The indirect talks started in February 2007 when Olmert visited Turkey and in a two-and-a-half hour private conversation with Erdogan agreed that Turkey would begin mediating between Israel and Syria with the goal of beginning peace negotiations.
Olmert placed responsibility for the Syrian dossier in the hands of his chief of staff Yoram Turbowicz and his foreign policy adviser Shalom Turgeman. The two have traveled to Turkey a number of times over the last year and held talks with Turkish officials. Currently they are in Ankara, and have been there since Monday, together with high ranking Syrian officials. The two teams, however, are not believed to be holding direct talks.
One of the issues Turkey is trying to work out between Israel and Syria as a prelude to direct negotiations is whether a Syrian announcement of ending support for terrorism needs to precede an Israeli guarantee that it will withdraw from the Golan Heights in exchange for peace, Western diplomats said in late April.
According to the officials, one question being discussed in exchanges Turkey has carried between Jerusalem and Damascus over the last few months is what comes first; an Israeli announcement - in some yet-to-be-determined form - regarding withdrawal from the Golan, or a Syrian announcement of ending support for Hamas and Hizbullah.
Israel is also keen on a Syrian commitment to distance itself from Iran as part of any future peace agreement.
At the time, Olmert's office denied reports that a decision had been made that Turbowicz would head discussions with the Syrians until a meeting was arranged between Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In an interview with Newsweek and The Washington Post last week, the prime minister said Israel was examining the possibility of peace with Damascus, even though Jerusalem was concerned over Syria's role in the region.
"We are very unhappy with the continued intensive involvement of Syria in the affairs of Lebanon and the lack of a democratic process in electing a new president in Lebanon. We are also unhappy with the continued links between Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas," he said.
Olmert said Israel was aware of US interests in the region, including in Lebanon and rejected reports that US President George W. Bush was blocking peace talks between Israel and Syria.
Last week, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post and other Israeli journalists in the Oval Office, Bush said he had never sought to prevent Israel from negotiating with Syria. But he also highlighted his own objections to American-Syrian dialogue, and warned of the threat inherent in the Iranian-Syrian alliance.
"I have made some very clear conditions for the United States talking with [the Syrians]," the president noted. "Early on in my administration, Colin Powell went to Damascus ... followed up by some other people. And we said, 'Look, you're housing Hamas. You're enabling transit of materials to Hizbullah in Lebanon.'... Since then they've made life miserable for the young democracy in Iraq."
What Syria needed to do if it wanted to open a new relationship with the US, he said, was to "become a constructive force, a positive force, a force for peace, not a force that continually uses these extremist groups to destabilize the neighborhood."
But Israel, he went on, had to make its own decisions. "Israeli politicians, responsible to the people and responsive to the people, have got to come up with their own vision of security," said Bush. "And I have never told Olmert one thing or another about what to do with his security. That's not what friends do... I know him well, and know that he is as concerned about Israeli security as any other person that's ever been the prime minister of Israel."
Still, Bush stressed, "My hope, of course, is that a decision is made with Israel's interests at heart." Thinking strategically, "the biggest long-term threat to peace in the Middle East is Iran," Bush said. "The Iranian connection with Syria is very troubling for not only the United States, but Israel, as well as other Arab nations. And anything done should keep that strategic vision in mind. And of all the people who understand the existential threat that the Iranians pose, it's the Israelis."
The surprise announcement comes at a time of increasing political uncertainty in Israel, stemming from the current investigation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
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Syria and Israel have started indirect peace talks, under the auspices of Turkey
Press Statement 21/05/2008
Prime Minister's Office
www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/Spokesman/2008/05/spokesyria210508.htm
Syria and Israel have started indirect peace talks, under the auspices of Turkey.
The two sides stated their intention to conduct these talks in good faith and with an open mind. They decided to pursue the dialogue between them in a serious and continuous way, in order to achieve the goal of comprehensive peace in accordance with the Madrid Conference terms of reference for peace.
Both sides thanked the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Turkey, for their role in this process and their generous hospitality
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Don’t believe Syria will live up to any peace treaty. I can see them trying to get the Golan for their ego but they will not stop aiding their proxies especially in Lebanon where they feast on that nation like a parasite.
Any Syrian promise is a postdated check drawn on a crashing bank.
Syrian shuck and jive or Olmerde has sold out ping!
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