Syria sends out peace feelers

Syria reiterated it wants peace with Israel. “Our position is the same. We are ready to resume peace negotiations, we would like to take action for peace,” an unnamed, high-level Syrian official told AFP on Thursday. The remarks, which were widely picked up in Israel, came a day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said his country does not want to go to war with Syria, despite a recent military build-up by Damascus. “We’re closely following the statements,” the Syrian official said, who also voiced dismay at Olmert’s unchanged position that any new talks should be without preconditions. “We don’t have much hope of things changing.” Jerusalem has long insisted that Damascus abandon its a priori demand for an immediate and complete return of the Golan Heights, which Israeli forces captured in the Six Day War.