U.S. President George W. Bush said a peace overture Syria said it made to Israel was very interesting and represented an encouraging sign, but that he wanted to get a clearer idea of Syrian President Bashar Assad's intentions.
A spokesman in the israeli Prime Minister's Office has, however, denied the Syrian reports that Damascus had sent Israel an offer, via Turkey, to renew talks.
Bush, speaking in Al Hurra, an Arab-language station that the Americans are operating in the Middle East, reiterated his demand that Syria cease funding Hizbullah, shut down offices of "terror" groups in its territory and keep its border with Iraq impervious to Saddam Hussein loyalists.
Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam said Wednesday that Syria had expressed its "readiness to resume peace talks from where they broke off" in January 2000, and said Syria was "still committed to the peace process in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions." (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
