Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., October 30, 2009 Cheshvan 12, 5770 | | Israel Time: 01:16 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Croatia offers to broker Israel-Syria talks
By Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies , By Barak Ravid
Tags: Israel News, Syria, Croatia 

Meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres last week, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic offered his government's help in restarting negotiations between Israel and Syria and suggested that his country's Brijuni Islands be used as the site for talks.

Mesic was in Israel last week to take part in the President's Conference, where he described himself as being in close contact with Bashar Assad, holding frequent talks with the Syrian president in the hope of strengthening relations between Zagreb and Damascus.

While meeting with Netanyahu and Peres, Mesic spoke of Assad as a "serious" and "intelligent" leader.
Advertisement
A senior Israeli diplomatic source said Mesic told Netanyahu about his closeness to Assad, and handed Netanyahu a message from the Syrian leader expressing his interest in renewing negotiations.

Netanyahu reportedly asked Mesic about Assad's character and his willingness to reach a peace agreement with Israel and improve ties with the West. Netanyahu said he was ready to relaunch talks with Syria without preconditions, as long as those talks were held directly without a mediator.

"I held negotiations with the elder Assad, and I see no reason that I cannot hold negotiations with the younger," Netanyahu reportedly said.

Mesic offered the lavish summer home of former Yugoslav dictator Marshal Tito in the Brijuni Islands as the site of the proposed talks. Under Tito's nearly three-decade reign, the summer home in the Adriatic hosted more than 100 foreign leaders, many of them from Western countries.

Yesterday, several days after the Croatian president returned to Zagreb, Assad paid him a visit. At a press conference, Assad said he would be willing to renew negotiations with Israel and called on Europe to help in such an effort.

"We call on European countries to also give their contribution, to help Turkey but also us to be able to resume from where we have stopped," Assad said, adding that the presence of a "third side" would be necessary if the talks resume.

"As far as it concerns us in Syria we have national support to continue talks with Israel," Assad said. "However, there is a condition that on the Israeli side we also have those who want to continue the negotiations."

For his part, Mesic said that "the suspended talks should resume and [the] Golan be brought back under Syrian sovereignty .... Security for Israel should be also guaranteed."
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Rabin's legacy
In video message, Obama to tell Rabin memorial that U.S.-Israel bond is unbreakable
U.S. anti-Semitism
New ADL poll shows anti-Semitic views in America are at a historic low
  1.   Croatia, with sincere gratitude, thanks, but no thanks. 10:02  |  David G 29/10/09
  2.   If Assad wants peace ? its a pice of cake 15:29  |  ottomatik 29/10/09
  3.   I guess Turkey is not the only choice for Syria 16:29  |  David Israel 29/10/09
  4.   Answer to #1 - 16:44  |  Col [Res] Cohen 29/10/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Date Local Jewish Singles
Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
23:11 LAPD puts Jewish institutions on alert after synagogue shooting
22:53 ADL voices 'deep concern' over L.A. synagogue shooting
00:31 Shalit activists to launch new campaign if talks remain stalled
20:51 Obama to tell Rabin memorial: U.S.-Israel alliance is unbreakable
22:23 U.S. court: Would-be Israel spy to remain in jail before trial
22:02 One person killed in suspected Mob 'work accident' in Bat Yam
00:39 Study: Birthright alumni less likely to marry out
21:52 TV ROUND-UP: 2 wounded in L.A. synagogue shooting; Rabin remembered
21:46 At Rabin memorial, Netanyahu vows to fight political violence
00:51 Gaydamak once worked for French intelligence, former minister says
17:37 Qaida-linked group in Lebanon claims rocket attack on Israel
21:31 Turkey envoy: Good ties with Israel part of our global aspirations
14:28 Are there 20,000 or 20,000,000 refugees in Israel?
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved