Syria Turned Down Peres peace offer

"Syria hit Peres peace offer ':
President Assad says Golan offered in exchange for moderate Iran ties.
President Shimon Peres sent a message to Syria, the offer of the Golan Heights to return in exchange for a promise that Damascus's ties with Iran and various terrorist groups, Syrian President Bashar Assad told As-Safir Lebanese breaking paper an interview published Tuesday.

Assad was quoted Peres as saying that the message by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a visit to Russia last week. Medvedev began a visit to the Middle East later that week. He visited Turkey and Syria, where he met with Hamas officials and Syrian ones.

The Office of the President issued a clarification after the publication of the interview, stating that Peres had indeed sent a message to Assad through Medvedev, but he had not offered for control of the Golan Heights.

According to the clarification, Peres stressed in his message to his Syrian counterpart that "Israel does not intend to attack Syria, nor does it plan to an escalation [of tensions] in the northern cause. "

His message further stated that Israel was interested in peace and "ready to immediately the peace talks with the Syrians." He added, however, that Jerusalem would not "be in Syria to Israel twice to continue by requiring that a withdrawal from the Golan Heights on the one hand, while the establishment of Iranian missiles on the mountains of the North .

Peres also said that Israel would not "enter into peace negotiations, while threatened," urging Damascus to support Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist activities cease.

"It's a mistake to write off the option of resistance"

"We do not trust the Israelis ... we are ready for war or peace at any moment," Assad told the newspaper. "Some people make the mistake to write off the possibility of resistance (a term used in the Arab world to connote militant warfare, especially against Israel), and turn them into prisoners of the peace option. They must be fully prepared for both , "he said.

Assad added that Syria had brokered negotiations with Israel in 2008 to plan a "clear and definitive" solution has been found, but it seemed the opposition was necessary to achieve peace. "If you're not strong, you are not respected," said Assad. He stressed that peace is not merely a symbolic olive branch, but a very real and tangible way to sort the balance of power in the region. He then described the positive effects of resistance, citing his performance in recent years - among them renewed ties with the U.S. and the West and Syria "rich, strong national unity" - as manifestations of the success of Syria.

When asked what the position of Syria would be the case that Israel Lebanon, Assad attacked smiled and told his interviewer: "I think the Israelis want the answer to that question to hear, and I will not meet their needs'' . Threats of war, he said, are about as likely as a reality of peace proposals have become.

In April, according to the Kuwait Al-Rai newspaper reported that Syria had ballistic Scud missiles to Hezbollah. According to the report, the missiles were recently transferred to Lebanon, prompted a strong Israeli warning that it would consider to belong to both Syrian and Lebanese targets in response.
The Syrian president stressed that he would press the Palestinian Hamas and other terrorist movements to disarm, or act against their will to continue. Regarding the gap between Hamas and Egypt, Assad said his country does not "seek to play a role at] cost [of Egypt" and that despite the differences between the two countries, there were no serious problems between them, but rather a basis for improvement. He added that unlike the former U.S. President George W. Bush, the Arab states do not employ a policy he described as "he is not with me is against me."

Asked about the regional interests of Syria, Assad said that his country was "vital interests" were "unity in Iraq, stability in Lebanon and the dialogue with the U.S.." In describing how the relationship between Damascus and Washington had changed in recent years, Assad referred to his ties with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had changed to "mutual respect."