Assad: Syria will not discuss ties with Hamas, Hizbullah with Israel

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Friday that Israel never demanded Syria relinquish its ties with Hizbullah and Hamas as a prerequisite to peace talks.

In an interview with India's The Hindu Newspaper, Assad said that "the Hamas organization in tied into the Palestinian route and we are not responsible for it. Hizbullah is tied in with Lebanon, and we are no longer present there… we talk only about the Syrian avenue."