Israel and Syria began a fourth round of indirect peace talks yesterday under Turkish mediation, an Israeli official said.

Two advisers to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Shalom Turjeman and Yoram Turbowitz, traveled to Turkey to resume the talks, the source told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.

"Israel's desire for peace is very serious," the official said. "That is why we expect that the process that has begun will soon evolve into direct bilateral negotiations with a view to achieving significant results."

The Israeli-Syrian talks started in May after an eight-year freeze, and the third round was held in early July.

Under the format of the talks, Israeli and Syrian officials do not see each other and Turkish diplomats shuttle between them.

Syria's ambassador to the United States called Monday for an end to the "state of war" with Israel.

"We desire to recognize each other and end the state of war," Imad Mustafa told a gathering of activists in Washington allied with Israel's Peace Now movement.

"Here is then a grand thing on offer. Let us sit together, let us make peace, let us end once and for all the state of war."

He added, however, that any peace agreement would depend on an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Israel and Syria have been formally in a state of war since the Jewish state was created in 1948, but the two countries have since signed an armistice.

The last negotiations broke down in 2000 over the fate of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community.

Israel has demanded that Syria distance itself from Iran and cut its ties to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, the Palestinian Hamas movement and other armed groups pledged to the Jewish state's demise.

Mustafa's remarks came just two weeks after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Damascus would establish "normal" relations with Israel, including the opening of embassies, if the Turkish-mediated talks lead to a peace deal.
JERUSALEM - Agence France - Presse

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We've been baffled for years as to why Israel wouldn't do this. It's a good move on the part of Israel, but it's still surprising that it would take Israel so long to do this. Of course Iran is hoping that these talks fail, just as we hope that no talks take place between Israel and the Palestinians. It's a geopolitically complex region and everything is interconnected. If Israel reaches a real peace with Syria or any other Arab nation it comes at our expense.

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