Syrian foreign minister rebuffs Israeli withdrawal offer

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa Wednesday rebuffed an Israeli offer to withdraw from a border strip in south Lebanon in exchange for security guarantees, saying Israel wasn't honest in its quest for peace.

Sharaa arrived at the head of a Syrian delegation for talks with Lebanese officials aimed at coordinating the Lebanese and Syrian response to Israel's offer to withdraw its troops in exchange for security on its northern border.

"Resolution 425 is like a court verdict. It cannot be subject to interpretation," Sharaa said after talks with Lebanese Foreign Minister Fares Boueiz, referring to the United Nations resolution, adopted twenty years ago, which calls on Israel to withdraw its troops unconditionally from Lebanon.

Sharaa called for a just and comprehensive peace in the region which he said can only be based on the "land for peace" formula. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he claimed, is "running away from addressing this issue."

"It is self-evident that Prime Minister Netanyahu is no longer interested in peace agreements or in peace treaties. He is only interested in dividing the Arabs, bringing tension to the area, making it difficult for the Arabs to consolidate their efforts in order to rescue the peace process," he said.

Sharaa's comment came a day before Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai was to begin a European tour aimed at marketing the Israeli withdrawal proposal.

The debate in Israel over its costly occupation of the enclave in south Lebanon was fueled last week after Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded seven others in two days. Netanyahu said Israel was willing to withdraw its troops in accordance with Resolution 425, if the Lebanese government pledged to disarm Hizbullah.

France offered to mediate between the two sides but Lebanon was quick to reject the proposal, saying 425 called for an unconditional withdrawal.

Sharaa Wednesday said Damascus has received assurances from French officials that they would not negotiate any offer with the Israelis without securing Lebanese and Syrian approval first.

He added he was certain the French "would not fall in the Israeli trap." Syria has some 30,000 troops deployed in the country as peace keepers in Lebanon. Both Lebanon and Syria have pledged to coordinate closely in their negotiations with Israel.