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Assad pessimistic
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Assad 'not optimistic' about Israel talks

Syrian president insists on return of Golan Heights, but says he cannot foresee peace negotiations with 'extreme, far-right government that does not support peace' anytime soon

Syrian President Bashar Assad insisted on the return of the Golan Heights but said he could not foresee peace talks with Israel anytime soon, in an interview with an Austrian daily published Sunday.

 

"What counts in the end, is that there is occupied territory that must be returned to Syria, and then we can talk about peace," Assad told the newspaper Die Presse, ahead of a visit to Austria Sunday.

 

"We do not make a peaceful solution dependent on the Israeli government. Governments in Israel come and go, whereas peace is a fixed goal that one must work towards consistently, even when there is no partner," he said.

 

But he added, "I am not very optimistic about this government," describing it as an "extreme, far-right government that does not support peace."

 

Assad's comments came as a split appeared Sunday within the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu on possible peace negotiations with Syria.

 

After firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he could not see Syria as "a real partner for any type of agreement" in a newspaper interview Saturday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters that Tehran had an interest in holding talks with Damascus.

 

"Negotiations with Syria should always be part of the Israeli government's agenda," he said Sunday.

 

Syria and Israel engaged in indirect peace talks in May last year following an eight-year hiatus, but the talks were suspended after Israel launched a deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip in December.

 

Assad was due to arrive in Vienna Sunday for a two-day working visit, during which he was to meet his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer to discuss bilateral economic and cultural issues as well the political challenges in the Middle East and Syria's role in the region.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.27.09, 10:35
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