Posted on 01/11/2004 10:07:11 PM PST by HAL9000
The Israeli president invites his Syrian counterpart in Jerusalem
Israeli president Moshé Katsav invited Monday his Syrian counterpart Bachar Al-Assad to come to Jerusalem to negotiate the conditions of an agreement of peace with Israel."I invite president Assad to come to Jerusalem and to seriously negotiate with the Israeli leaders the conditions of an agreement of peace", affirmed Mr. Katsav with the Israeli public radio.
"Mr. Assad will be welcome, but it should not pose prerequisites", it added.
Previously, the Israeli president had shown Syria to have supported the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah Lebanese Shiite. Israel is ready and eager to negotiate with Syria if the mode of Damas ceases supporting "terrorism", Sunday the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the time of a press conference affirmed.
"We would like to negotiate and to arrive at peace with any country arabeBien heard we are ready to negotiate with Syria", affirmed Mr. Sharon.
"What must be made it is that Syria ceases its assistance and its support for terrorism. If that arrives, I believe that Israel will be very glad to negotiate and that unconditionally ", continued Mr. Sharon. Mr. Sharon in addition estimated that "Syria is under pressure since the end of the war in Iraq (...) Syria is suspected of ensuring a cover terrorism in Iraq and of cooperating with Iran in terrorism", still said the head of the government.
Mr. Sharon also stressed that at the "time when Syria speaks to take again negotiations with Israel, it helps Hezbollah (a militia Lebanese Shiite) which continues to act with the Guards of the Iranian Revolution against Israel" starting from Lebanon.
Israeli president invites Syrian counterpart
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Moshe Katsav has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to visit Jerusalem for "serious" peace talks with Israeli leaders.
Negotiations between the two countries, technically still at war, collapsed in 2000. But Syria has recently urged the United States to help revive the talks.
"I invite the president of Syria to come to Jerusalem and meet with the heads of the state and hold serious negotiations," Katsav said on Israel Radio on Monday.
He issued the invitation a day after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was ready for peace talks with Syria, but only if Damascus halted support for "terrorist agents".
Israeli military sources say Syria or its Hizbollah allies have a hand in nearly all Palestinian militant attacks on Israelis and that Syria is determined to scupper any attempt to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully.
Katsav said that "the intentions, level of seriousness and motives" behind the Syrian president's apparent readiness to talk peace with Israel would be examined through "secret channels" before any meeting in Jerusalem.
It was not immediately clear if Katsav had sent a formal invitation to Assad.
U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and Syria collapsed over the issue of how much of the Golan Heights, seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, could be returned.
Syria wants all of the heights, but Israel sees the territory as strategically important for controlling the Sea of Galilee, its biggest reservoir.
President Katsav invites Syria's Assad for Jerusalem visit
President Moshe Katsav on Monday invited Syrian President Bashar Assad to visit Jerusalem, with no preconditions.
"I'm the president of Israel and I have the authority to invite foreign presidents to come to Israel," Katsav said during an interview to Israel Radio. "I invite the president of Syria to come to Jerusalem to meet with the country's leaders and conduct serious negotiations, if that is his wish."
"There is no doubt that President Assad is in severe trouble, and his intentions aren't pure," Katsav told the radio, "but we must seriously examine his proposal to renew negotiations with Israel in a direct meeting and not through the media."
In early December, Assad told the New York Times that he was ready to resume negotiations with Israel where they broke off in 2000 - with Israel offering to return nearly all of the Golan Heights, which were captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that Israel would be happy to begin peace talks with Syria, but only if Syria first ends its support for terrorist organizations.
Speaking with foreign correspondents in Jerusalem on Sunday, Sharon said: "I believe that what should be done is that Syria should stop the help and support for terrorist agents, and if that happens, I believe Israel will be ready."
The prime minister claimed that most Syrian assistance for terrorist organizations went through Lebanon, which had been "under Syrian occupation since January 1976."
He added that Israel, as a peace-loving nation, was naturally interested in talks with Syria, but questioned whether Damascus really wanted peace, or was merely trying to ease the American pressure it was currently under. Any talks must begin without preconditions, Sharon said.
Earlier, Sharon told the cabinet that "we shouldn't rush to embrace the Syrians before thoroughly investigating what lies behind the Syrian initiative" to resume peace talks.
Responding to Justice Minister Yosef Lapid's argument that Israel should unequivocally announce its support for peace negotiations, Sharon added that he supported talks with all the Arab states, including Syria and Libya, but they must first prove that they were willing to wage an uncompromising war on terror.
"I have expressed my full support for peace negotiations," Sharon continued. "Obviously Israel is interested in peace with Syria, but we must not forget what the head of Military Intelligence told the cabinet meeting last week that Syria is still assisting anti-Israel terrorism.
"Just as we demand that the Palestinians dismantle terror [groups] before beginning negotiations, we make the same demand of the Syrians. This is an Israeli interest, which, despite our strong desire for peace, we cannot concede."
Israeli president invites Syrian counterpart to peace talks
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli President Moshe Katsav invited Syrian President Bashar Assad to go to Israel for peace talks Monday, a day after Israel's prime minister said such talks could begin only after Syria dismantles militant groups Israel says it controls. As Israel's ceremonial leader, Katsav has limited political influence. Katsav's call followed Sunday's rejection by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of demands by Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom that Israel consider Assad's overture to resume peace talks.
In early December, Assad told the New York Times newspaper he is ready to resume negotiations with Israel where they broke off in 2000 - with Israel offering to return nearly all the Golan Heights captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
Sharon said Sunday that Israel will only restart negotiations with Syria after Syria stops aiding and harbouring terrorist groups that continue to attack Israel. The main Palestinian militant groups, as well as the Lebanese group Hezbollah, all operate on Syrian territory.
"I'm the president of Israel and I have the authority to invite foreign presidents to come to Israel," Katsav told Israel Radio on Monday.
"I invite the president of Syria to come to Jerusalem to meet with the country's leaders and conduct serious negotiations, if that is his wish."
Still technically at war with Israel, Syria demands the return of all the Golan as part of any potential deal.
Israel annexed the 1,605-square-kilometre Golan in 1981, though its sovereignty is not internationally recognized. Its current population of about 35,000 is roughly evenly divided between Israelis and its original Druse Arab residents.
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