Syria postpones peace talks with Israel

WASHINGTON, JANUARY 18: Prospects for peace between Israel and Syria hung in balance after a new round of talks set to take place in the U...

WASHINGTON, JANUARY 18: Prospects for peace between Israel and Syria hung in balance after a new round of talks set to take place in the US on Wednesday was postponed.

The postponement came after Damascus insisted that Israel commit itself to a full withdrawal from the entire strategic Golan heights plateau occupied in the 1967 Middle East war as a precondition for resumption of negotiations.

quot;The US informed us of the postponement following Syria8217;s wishes,quot; a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told AFP.

The bumpy negotiations, which broke off on January 10 with no tangible progress, had been due to resume on Wednesday in Washington.

A senior Clinton administration official acknowledged that the postponement was quot;certainly not a step forwardquot; in the peace process.

He said a small number of experts from both countries would be in Washington by weekend or early next week to discuss the outstanding issues.

Syria8217;s state-run radio Damascus said earlier on Monday that the resumption of the talks would be pointless without an explicit Israeli pledge to negotiate on the basis of a withdrawal from the whole of the occupied Golan heights.

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quot;We are now demanding a concrete review of the negotiations and that requires an undertaking by Israel to demarcate the border of June 4, 1967quot; which existed before Israel8217;s seizure of the plateau, Syrian state radio said.

quot;An Israeli refusal on this issue will prevent any progress being achieved by any of the other working groups and so a third round of talks would be useless,quot; the Syrian radio said in its daily commentary.

Before the announcement, Barak had described Syria8217;s preconditions as unacceptable. quot;We do not take diktats from anyone on earth,quot;he said after briefing the Parliament8217;s defence and foreign affairs committee.

quot;We respect Syrian President Al-Assad and if he needs some time before negotiations resume, we respect it,quot; he said.

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The talks between Israel and Syria first resumed in mid-December after a nearly four-year hiatus but got off to a rocky start with the two sides still far apart on the key border issue.

US President Bill Clinton took pains to point out that progress had been made in the previous rounds of talks and that the will to reach a peace deal was still there.

quot;The good news is I8217;m convinced they both still want to do it. They8217;re not as far apart as they might be; they8217;re not as far apart as they have been. So that8217;s the good news,quot; he said.