Syria refutes Israeli claims

An official Syrian source has refuted reports of Syrian-Israeli contacts currently being made at the mediation of a third party in preparation for US intervention in an attempt to revive the Syrian-Israeli tracks in the peace process.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said in a statement to the Saudi daily Okaz that "such news are fabricated," adding that the Israeli dailies had repeatedly published such news. The Syrian source recalled the Syrian "unswerving stand in rejecting any new talks which do not start from the point where the negotiations broke off."

On November 19, The Qatar News Agency quoted the Israeli daily Maariv as saying that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu asked a former US ambassador in Damascus to deliver messages addressed to the Syrian leadership implying "Israel's keenness to resume negotiations immediately after the implementation of the Wye Plantation agreement."

The message also stressed that Israel has no hand in the Turkish-Syrian disputes.