Israeli envoys propose Olmert meeting with Bashar in Paris

Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli envoys holding a new round of indirect peace talks with Syrian counterparts in Turkey will propose that their two leaders meet at a Paris conference next month, Israeli political sources said on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad announced Turkish-mediated negotiations last month but there has been no word on prospects for a face-to-face meeting given the gap between the sides' bedrock demands.

Both men are to attend a July 13 summit of a new union of European and Mediterranean countries in Paris. Olmert, who sent aides to resume talks in Turkey on Saturday, has offered to meet Bashar on the event's sidelines, Israeli political sources said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was trying to arrange a three-way meeting with Olmert and Bashar during the Euro-Med conference but had not yet received final confirmation from Damascus, another Israeli source said.

The French embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment.

Sarkozy has invited leaders attending the summit to stay on for France's July 14 national day parade.

"The idea isn't necessarily to hold an hours-long conversation, just a face-to-face encounter that would, in itself, serve to take things forward," said one Israeli source. "This is one of the fresh ideas that is being raised in Turkey."

Difficult concessions

Olmert aides Yoram Turbowicz and Shalom Turjeman held indirect talks with Syrian counterparts in Ankara on Sunday and were continuing contacts yesterday, the Israeli sources said.

There was no immediate confirmation from Syria or Turkey. A diplomatic breakthrough could shore up Olmert at home, where he faces a corruption scandal that threatens to force him from office. A key American witness in the case is due to be cross-questioned by Olmert's lawyers in open court on July 17.

But Olmert's delegation was not optimistic about the chances of Bashar agreeing to meet the prime minister at this stage, an Israeli political source said: "The assessment in Israel is that he [Bashar] would first need something concrete in hand."

The last direct talks - between then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al Shara'a - stalled in 2000 in a dispute over how much of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in a 1967 war, should go back to Syria.

Damascus is firm in demanding all the Golan. Olmert has been hazy on whether his government would satisfy this, saying only that "difficult concessions" may be required for peace with Syria but that he has made no promises regarding the territory.

Israel, echoing a long-running US demand, in turn wants Syria to scale back ties with the Jewish state's most virulent foes - Iran, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah. Syrian officials have rejected this precondition.