Olmert: Israel,Syria both know what they need to do for peace

Haaretz ^ | 05/22/2008 | Zvi Bar'el

[oldleft]

A day after warring neighbors Israel and Syria announced a renewal of peace talks after eight years, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Thursday that both sides know what they need to do for peace.

"The Syrians know what we want and we know what they want," Olmert told Kouchner.

-snip-

Syrian Information Minister Muhsin Bilal told Al Jazeera television on Thursday that Damascus had received guarantees from Israel via Turkey for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and rejected conditions put forth for concluding a peace deal.

We received commitments and messages from the Israeli government and the Israeli prime minister that guarantee, via the Turks, that he knows what the Syrians want," Bilal said.

"He knows that the whole of the Golan Heights will be returned to Syria and that Israel will withdraw to the lines of 4 June 1967," he added added.

[econjack]

Livni said that Syria must distance itself from Tehran and cut ties to Iranian-backed groups like Hezbollah and Hamas if wants to conclude a peace treaty with Israel.

Good luck with that...