Olmert: Israel has not committed to returning Golan Heights

Occupied Jerusalem: Israel has not committed to pulling out of the Golan Heights, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday.

Speaking to a parliamentary committee, Olmert said: "From February 2007 to May 2008, nothing was said aside from 'you know what I want, and I know what you want -- so let's talk'."

"There is no commitment aside from the statement which I made and there will be nothing else," he added.

These remarks come soon after Syrian Information Minister Mohsin Bilal told Al Jazeera television that Syria "received commitments and messages from the Israeli government and the Israeli prime minister that guarantee, via the Turks, that he knows what the Syrians want".

Bilal said Olmert "knows that the whole of the Golan Heights will be returned to Syria and that Israel will withdraw to the lines of 4 June, 1967.''

Syria and Israel last Wednesday announced they were engaged in indirect peace talks via Turkey.