Syria reiterated Saturday it is ready to resume peace talks with Israel that broke down in 2000, according to a newspaper report. The Tishrin daily, which reflects government views, said talks should pick up where they broke off three years ago a view often repeated by the Syrian government. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since it captured the area from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981. The talks ended in a dispute over the amount of land in the Golan Heights to be returned to Syria. Israel insisted on retaining the entire shore of the Sea of Galilee, a lake at the western foot of the heights, while Syria demanded a portion of the shoreline, which it had controlled until 1967. The paper said "it is not permissible that peace negotiations return to a zero point and cancels all that was achieved and had required strenuous efforts."
| Significant? Or propaganda for external consumption? |
|