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Israeli diplomat: No more talks with Syria at this time By Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters , By Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern Israel and Syria have both told Turkey that they are not currently interested in conducting another round of indirect talks with each other, an Israeli diplomat told Haaretz this week. The diplomat said Damascus and Jerusalem explained that they are suspending the Turkish mediation in peace negotiations because talks would be pointless before Israel's general election on February 10. Turkish officials said they believed talks would be resumed after Israel gets its new leader. Advertisement The decision to shelve the process did not invoke much protest from the Foreign Ministry, where top diplomats have said they are unhappy with the way peace talks have allowed Syria to break out of its isolation, despite its classification as a terror-sponsoring country. This problem reached new levels when the European Commission issued a draft early this month for updating its free trade agreement with Syria, which had been suspended for several years. The signing of a final free trade deal will not happen any time soon, but the draft represents a significant achievement for Damascus. Meanwhile, quoting sources familiar with the talks, Reuters reported that Syria has drafted a document defining the boundaries of the occupied Golan Heights and was waiting for an Israeli reply through Turkish mediators. This could mean that negotiations will continue even if the fifth round of talks does not happen. The document is an addition to a Syrian peace proposal which, as Haaretz reported in October, refers to six contested points whose resolution, according to Syria, could help seal a peace deal as early as next year. The addition is in fact a map outlining a future international border. A Syrian official said the paper sent to Turkey includes reference to geographic points on the present northeastern shore of Lake Kinneret. "The document puts us on the water," the official said. Hafez Assad, Syria's previous leader, regarded the northeastern shore as an integral part of the Golan and said Syria controlled it before the war broke out on June 4, 1967. Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara said last month that "the Syrian definition of the June 4 line means the restoration of the northeastern shore of the lake to Syria" and described Israeli arguments about the shoreline receding as invalid. Diplomats in the Syrian capital said that even if the two sides make progress on the territorial question a deal might not follow easily because Israel now wants Syria to reduce its alliance with Iran and cut support for the Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist groups. "The situation is more complicated than in 2000 with Syria's external ties coming into play. Syria also wants agreement on the six points without direct negotiations, which might be difficult," one of the diplomats said. Syrian officials have said Israel has no right to set conditions regarding its foreign policy but acknowledged that the political map of the region would change if Damascus and Israel sign a deal. Bashar Assad, Syria's president, told Western visitors that Syria had received a document from Israel through Turkey with queries about Syrian relations with neighboring states after a possible peace, the visitors say. "The president said Syria has responded, but he did not say how," one said. Bookmark to del.icio.us   The Eilat bus crash At least 24 Russian tour guides were killed in one of Israel's worst road accidents. Setting it straight Livni: Syria peace must involve more than just eating hummus in Damascus.

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