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Last update - 20:47 25/08/2008
Syrian FM: No headway made in negotiations with Israel
By The Associated Press
Tags: israel, syria, france

Syria's foreign minister said Monday that no headway has been achieved in several rounds of indirect negotiations with Israel.

Israel and Syria announced in May that they were resuming negotiations using Turkish mediators.

Walid al-Moallem said the talks mediated by Turkey regrettably have not progressed enough for the two parties to hold direct negotiations, but added both Israel and Syria were serious about solving outstanding issues.
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The Syrian foreign minister was speaking Monday at a joint press conference with the visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner who expressed his country's willingness to assist in the peace process if both parties requested it.

Turkish officials have hosted four rounds of indirect negotiations in Istanbul between Syrian and Israeli delegations.

Turkish officials have hosted four rounds of indirect negotiations in Istanbul between Syrian and Israeli delegations.

Syrian President Bashar Assad had said in an interview Thursday with the
Arabic language Russia Today TV station that the next round of indirect
negotiations planned for next week will be decisive. He did not elaborate.

Assad said Syria wished to give peace a chance but did not have confidence in Israel's peace intentions. He added that the talks have failed until now to produce an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the strategic Golan Heights.

French-Syrian relations, meanwhile, are on the mend, as witnessed by
Kouchner's visit which he directly attributed to Syria's improving relations with Lebanon.

Kouchner, who traveled to Syria from neighboring Lebanon, said improving
French-Syrian relations were a direct result of what he said was Syria's new conduct in Lebanon.

"Today we open a new era in relations between Syria and France," he said.

Lebanon and Syria announced earlier this month they would establish diplomatic relations and negotiate the demarcation of their border - both long-standing Lebanese demands. The two countries have not had official diplomatic ties since they became independent from France in the 1940s.

France has praised the move, which has also paved the way for a visit to Syria by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, scheduled for early next month.

"I hope that President Sarkozy's visit to Syria will help in strengthening these new and positive relations between Syria and Lebanon," Kouchner told reporters earlier Monday at Beirut airport.

"France is ready to help solve problems between Lebanon and Syria ... at the request of the two countries," Kouchner said. I will convey to President Assad the hopes and difficulties I've heard here and also the will of all the Lebanese to live in a democratic, stable, sovereign and independent Lebanon.

Syrian-French relations deteriorated after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria's critics accuse Damascus of having a role in the slaying, a charge Syria denies.

Sarkozy hosted Assad in July, appearing determined to bring Syria back into the international fold. The French president travels to Syria Sept. 3.

Syria controlled Lebanon for nearly 30 years after sending in troops as peacekeepers during the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war. Its direct hold was broken in 2005, when international pressure and street protests over Hariri's assassination forced Syrian troops to leave.

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