Report: Syria won't renew talks until elections

Damascus has has recently rejected proposals to resume the indirect Turkish-mediated negotiations with Israel at the present time, Qatari daily 'Al-Watan' reported on Sunday.

The report comes just a day before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert leaves for Turkey to meet with counterpart

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country has acted as the go-between in the talks.

According to the report, Syria is adamant that the official negotiations only resume after US President-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20th and Israel holds its general elections, which are scheduled to take place three weeks later.

Olmert, however, has made it clear he is keen to see the talks move to a direct track while he is still premier.

Arab sources told the paper that Syria believes there is little use in continuing the indirect negotiations with Olmert's government and that it would be preferable to wait and study the makeup of the new government.

According to the sources, Damascus is preconditioning the resumption of the talks on Israel's response to its proposal on the borders of the Golan Heights – transferred to Israel via Turkey. Jerusalem's acceptance of the proposal, therefore, would constitute the legal and political foundation for any future talks.

Syrian officials have said that the return to the negotiating table on its part would have to be preceded with

a 'positive' statement of intent on the part of the new Israeli government.

"The ball has been in Israel's court since the fifth round of the indirect talks," the sources told the UAE-based newspaper Al-Halij.

"The Israeli side has been sabotaging the resumption of the talks and there has been no genuine indication that Israel is set to change its bullheaded stance," they said, ruling out the possibility of a breakthrough in the coming months due to the transition period on both Washington and Jerusalem.