Syria rejects suggestion of president to visit Israel

Syria on Thursday rejected an Israeli suggestion that President Bashar al-Assad could visit Israel for peace talks, reported an official newspaper Al-Baath.

"Israel knows, the U.S. administration also knows, and the entire world knows that no Syrian citizen would ever accept this," the ruling Baath party's paper said.

The report, which was written by its editor-in-chief Elias Murad, also said that the Israeli gesture reflected the country's weak position after its war with Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said in an interview aired on Israel TV that "What would happen if Assad said he is coming to the Knesset (Israeli parliament)?"

"He must get up and say, 'I want to talk peace directly with Israel.' That's all," Peres said.

Syrian-Israeli talks foundered in 2000 over the fate of the strategic Golan Heights plateau, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War and later annexed.

In recent weeks, Assad has renewed a call for peace talks with Israel. Last month, he told the German magazine Der Spiegel that " We want to make peace with Israel." But in an interview with the BBC on Monday, Assad cast doubt on Israel's desire for peace.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Office said that the Jewish state would not negotiate with Syria as long as the country continued to back militant groups.

Source: Xinhua