Israel says policy towards Syria has not changed

Israel's policy toward Syria had not changed and it still demanded Syria "renounce terror" before it engages in negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

The statement came after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in Syria earlier in the day that she gave Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a message from Olmert that Israel was ready for peace talks.

"Comments (Olmert) made to the speaker of the House did not represent any change in a policy Israel has expressed to all international figures dealing with the (Syrian) issue," the statement said.

"In order to conduct real peace negotiations, Syria must cease its support for terror, stop sponsoring Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations, stop sending weapons to Hezbollah and undermining stability in Lebanon, stop supporting terror in Iraq and disavow the strategic ties it is forming with the extremist regime in Iran, " it underlined.

Pelosi, on a visit to Syria opposed by White House, told reporters in Damascus after talks with Assad that she had conveyed to the Syrian leaders an Israeli message that Israel was ready to resume peace talks and Assad in return assured her in the meeting his willingness to engage in peace talks with Israel.

"We were very pleased with the assurances we received from the president that he was ready to resume the peace process. He's ready to engage in negotiations for peace with Israel," said Pelosi, the most senior U.S. politician to visit Damascus in years.

However, an Israeli government official told local daily Ha' aretz that was not the message Olmert had asked Pelosi earlier this week to convey to Assad.

Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin Sunday said Pelosi will convey to Syria a message that Israel is willing to talk "if they (Syria) would openly take steps to stop supporting terrorism. But at this point the Syrian government, by openly backing terror all around the Middle East, is not a partner for negotiations."

The U.S. Democrat met Sunday with Olmert and the families of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers, as part of a Middle East tour that has drawn criticism from the White House because of a planned stop in Syria.

Source: Xinhua