Assad confesses to secret negotiations with Israel

by **Admin** Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:57 am

Syrian
President Bashar Al-Assad said that Turkish Prime Minister Rajab Tayyeb
Ardugan informed him of Israel's readiness to withdraw from the Golan
Heights, and admitted that he has been negotiating with Israel for two
years.

The
Syrian leader disclosed that Israel and Syria were exchanging messages
since the end of the 2006 Lebanon War, adding that the flow of messages
had intensified since Turkey became involved about a year ago,
especially since April 2007. "The mediation between Damascus and Tel
Aviv thoroughly increased since the end of the war in Lebanon and
Hizbullah's victory," Assad said. "However, Turkey entering the picture
in April of last year has precipitated the disclosure of new positive
details as Olmert told the Turkish prime minister that he was willing
to retreat from the Golan," Assad said.

"There
won't be any secret negotiations with Israel, only public talks.
Negotiations will not be direct, but through Turkish mediation," Assad
told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan.

Assad noted that Turkey's involvement in this matter since 2007 has led to some success.

"We
need now to find a common platform through the Turkish mediator. We
will discuss first the matter of regaining the land to examine Israel's
credibility, as we have to be careful while discussing this matter.
Maybe with the next US administration, we can talk about direct
negotiations," Assad said.

He
added that direct negotiations require a sponsor. "This sponsor can
only be the US, but unfortunately, it does not have any vision on the
peace process," Assad said.