Syrian president denies secret peace talks with Israel

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - President Bashar Assad denied what he said were media reports that Syria has held secret peace talks with Israel, saying Saturday that his country wants to negotiate publicly with the Jewish state.

It was not clear what media reports he was referring to.

Assad added that the Israeli people were not ready for peace, Army Radio reported.

"For us, the peace process would never be anything but public," he said. He said if the Israelis prefer to hold secret talks, they are "thinking that the negotiations are a crime or a disgraceful act."

Since taking office in July 2000 following the death of his father, President Hafez Assad, Bashar Assad has said Syria is ready to resume peace talks with Israel.

He insists they begin where they left off when negotiations collapsed in 2000, when Israel offered to withdraw from most of the Golan Heights. Israel has since annexed the strategic plateau.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has rebuffed Assad's offers to resume talks, saying Syria must first expel militant Palestinian groups based in Damascus and rein in Hezbollah guerrillas posted along the Lebanon-Israel border.

Assad also said Syria and the European Union have reached an understanding to sign an agreement on economic partnership that have dragged on since 1998. He said they were no longer stuck over an EU demand that Syria sign a clause renouncing weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

"We have reached a joint formula that is in harmony with our stance concerning non-proliferation and in the context of our common goal to make the Middle East a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction," Assad said.

He said Syria was waiting for the EU's formal acceptance of the proposed formula.

Syria vows to maintain close ties to Lebanon Assad vowed on Saturday to maintain close ties with Beirut despite a United Nations resolution demanding the withdrawal of some 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Assad also slammed last month's Security Council resolution as "a mistake", and said Syria had no intention to dominate its smaller neighbor.

"Syria's responsibility toward Lebanon and Lebanon's responsibility toward Syria will continue whatever the circumstances, with the power of history, geography, the will of God and the blessings of the two peoples," he said.

Speaking at a conference of Syrian expatriates in Damascus, Assad said Lebanon had no natural resources or wealth that would constitute an assumed goal for Syria to dominate it, and questioned the motives behind Security Council resolution 1559.

"Had we wanted to dominate (Lebanon), why did we redeploy our forces in stages over about five years... We did not take anything from Lebanon. We gave blood," he added.

The UN resolution, sponsored by the United States and France, was seen as an attempt to head off an attempt to extend the term of Lebanon's Syrian-backed president.

Assad denied Syria had pressured Lebanon's parliament to extend President Emile Lahoud's term by three years, and said the UN resolution itself amounted to interference in Beirut's internal affairs.

Syria sent troops to Lebanon at Beirut's request in 1976, a year after the start of Lebanon's civil war, and remains the main power-broker in Lebanese politics.

Beirut and Damascus say the presence of Syrian forces in Lebanon was a bilateral arrangement and any decision to leave would also be taken by both sides.

Without mentioning the United Nations by name, Assad said international organizations set up to promote peace were being turned into "arms for bigger powers at the expense of smaller countries".

The United Nations remains divided on how to follow up on its resolution. After it was passed, Syria redeployed some 3,000 soldiers, but UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said it was not clear what impact that had on the overall military presence.

On Friday the United States and France failed to persuade Muslim states to sign a Council statement putting fresh pressure on Syria to pull out of Lebanon. Diplomats said they would meet again on Monday to try and reach an agreement.

	Syrian President Bashar al-Assad giving a speech at a Syrian expatriates conference in Damascus on Sunday. (Reuters)