Boueiz: Israeli talks should be restarted from where they left off

Lebanese Foreign Minister Fares Boueiz said that Syria and Lebanon will not agree on the resumption of peace talks except from the point they stopped at last year.

In a statement he made to London Radio Boueiz said, "It is not logical to waste five years of talks on important subjects which took place in Washington and to start again from the zero point whenever an Israeli government is changed."

He added: "We have confirmed during our meeting with Mrs. Madeleine Albright the need to have the US play its role as an unbiased sponsor in the peace talks, stressing that Syria and Lebanon had not participated in Madrid conference except after receiving a guarantee that the US would play its role as a strong pressing power and an honest mediator."