Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Tel Aviv has agreed to return the strategic Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to Syria in return for peace. In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Assad said Wednesday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accepted a full Israeli withdrawal from Golan Heights during indirect peace talks held under Turkish mediation last year.
Assad said Olmert had told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Tel Aviv would indeed have to withdraw to the pre-1967 border and that it was the right thing to do.
According to the Syrian president Olmert was about to discuss the issue with his cabinet but it was postponed because of the Gaza war. He also said that the only remaining issue was the precise pre-1967 borderline.
Syria formally suspended the Turkish-mediated indirect talks following Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Last week Assad said that Damascus will engage in direct peace talks with Israel only after Tel Aviv accepts to return the Golan Heights.
Israel and Syria have officially been at war since 1967 when Tel Aviv occupied the strategic plateau during the Six-Day War. Syria wants a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 border, but Israeli officials say the plateau is too strategically important to be returned. The Golan Heights gives Israel access to the Sea of Galilee -- Israel's main source of fresh water.