Damascus, Jan 14: Syria has urged the United States and Europe to push for restarting peace talks with Israel, accusing the Jewish state of "wasting time" with bogus reports that Syria was prepared to set aside what had been achieved in previous negotiations. The Syrian comments - by a senior legislator and an information ministry official - replied to an Israeli newspaper that reported Syrian President Bashar Assad had dropped his demand for peace talks to resume where they left off in 2000.
The remarks also came a day after Israel's President invited Assad to Jerusalem for talks, and was rebuffed.
"The purpose of all that is wasting time in order to prolong the (Israeli) occupation and expand settlements" in the Golan Heights, a top official in the information ministry said. Israel captured the heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and has settled thousands of Israelis on them. Bureau Report