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Syrian: Talks hinge on Olmert troubles By Yoav Stern Peace talks between Syria and Israel will resume next week if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert manages to overcome his domestic problems, a senior Syrian journalist wrote yesterday. Writing in the London-based Arabic-language paper Al-Hayat, Ibrahim Hamidi, who is considered Syria's leading independent journalist, said that Damascus was anxious to return to the negotiating table and that serious progress had been made in the talks so far. Advertisement "Damascus will do all it can to further talks," he wrote. "It is examining every small move with hope on the way to peace." He reiterated Syrian officials' claim that Israel's government had agreed to withdraw to the 1967 border, which Jerusalem denies. "When we mean the talks are serious, we mean that the other side is committed to a full withdrawal to the border of June 4, 1967," Hamidi quoted a Syrian source as saying. "The Middle Eastern theater, and its strategic aspects, will change if the awaited peace is achieved," Hamidi continued. "The positive developments will be tangible for everyone living in the Middle East." On Wednesday, Syrian President Bahar Assad told a British parliamentary delegation that he had no intention of complying with Israel's request that Damascus sever its close relations with Iran. During the meeting, Assad likened the Israeli request to his asking Israel to sever its ties with the United States. Also yesterday, Syria and France resumed high-level contact with each other after several months during which no such communication had occurred, due to differences of opinion over the political strife in Lebanon. Assad spoke by telephone with French President Nicolas Sarzoky, and the French president told his Syrian counterpart that he supports the resumption of talks with Israel. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Bad immigrant Hezbollah spy said he acted as a 'Lebanese patriot and a Muslim.' When (he's) in Rome Israel to launch PR campaign against Ahmadinejad visit to UN summit in Rome.

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