Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert secretly told Syrian President Bashar Assad that Israel would give up the Golan Heights in return for peace with Damascus, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.

The report said Olmert sent messages via German and Turkish diplomats to Assad, indicating that Israel was willing to give up the Golan in exchange for a direct negotiation and the severing of Syrian's alliance with Iran and terror groups in the region.

Syria has not responded to the offer, except for a few declaration of willingness to enter the negotiation, the report said.

A Syrian diplomat in London denied the report, saying that Damascus had not received any invitation from Israel to open negotiations, Israel Radio reported.

It was further reported that during a phone conversation with U. S. President George W. Bush last month, Olmert said he had decided to look into the possibility of renewing negotiations with Syria.

Bush responded that U.S. would not stand in Israel's way. However, some of Olmert's aids worried that the renewal of peace talks with Syria would hurt the relationship with the United States.

In recent weeks it has been reported that the Olmert government was looking into different options for negotiations with Syria.

Meanwhile, the concerns over war danger on northern front are running high after Israeli Military Intelligence found that Assad is well placed to carry out a surprise attack on the Golan Heights, which was seized during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Source: Xinhua