Al-Anbaa: Washington conditions for peace talks resumption between Syria, Israel

American and European diplomatic sources said that the administration of the US President George Bush informed the Syrian officials that Washington is ready to start Syrian- Israeli and Lebanese- Israeli peace negotiations in the framework of international conditions, but under the condition that Syria will officially support a solution to the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis and to halt its support for the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements and to stop Hizbullah operations against the Israelis.

In its yesterday's issue, the Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa said that Washington wants to solve the problem of Syria's support for the Palestinian organizations through diplomacy, rather than getting into a military confrontation with the Syrians, and therefore asked officially for Syria's consent to the American proposal of the so-called "road map" for the creation of a Palestinian state.

These sources stressed that the US administration aims behind its request of such a Syrian commitment to get from it approval on seven steps Washington finds necessary to establish peace, especially support for reforms in the Palestinian authority, minimizing the role of Yasser Arafat, Syria's support to halting the Palestinian Intifada, halting all types of support for the Palestinian organizations, Syria's support for the American demand to calling on Egypt and Jordan to recall back their ambassadors to Tel Aviv, the call for establishing trade and tourism relations between Israel and the Arab states, and Syria's consent to take part, together with Lebanon, in an international peace conference to be held before the end of 2003.

The same sources unveiled that the Syrian leadership has not so far approved these American demands because they are in many ways in contrary to Syria's positions and declared policies, noting that the dialogue on this matter is continuous between Washington and Damascus.