Second round of Israel-Syria talks completed

Tuesday June 17, 2008 18:22 by George Rishmawi

The second round of the indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel under the auspices of Turkey was completed in Turkey on Monday.

Iraeli Jet Fighter (Photo: Rueters)

A press statement published by the Turkish Consulate in Jerusalem said the talks were held in “a constructive and positive atmosphere.”

“The two sides reiterated their common will to continue their talks and agreement to continue meeting regularly. The dates of the following two meetings were also agreed upon,” said the statement.

Israel and Syria have indirect peace talk going on in the past two months, but on a low frequency.

In October of 2007, Israeli jet fighters have invaded the airspace over Syria and attacked a building claiming it is a nuclear cache.

Syrian officials have denied that the site, which is located in north Syria on the Euphrates river, is a nuclear facility and identified the targeted facility as is an agricultural research center.

Syria also said that they preserve the right to respond to Israel’s military attack. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and built a number of settlements there.

arab world | peace process | news report george at imemc dot org