An official source at the Syrian Foreign Ministry denied as "unfounded" a report published by Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Tuesday regarding contacts between Syria and Israel. The source, answering a question by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), stressed that such information is "categorically unfounded and baseless." Israeli PM Ehud Olmert also dismissed the report.
The paper said in its headline story that in a series of secret talks in Europe during September 2004 to July 2006, Syrians and Israelis formulated understandings for a peace deal between the two sides.
The main points of the understandings as published in the front page of the newspaper are as follows:
- An agreement of principles will be signed between the two sides, and following the fulfillment of all commitments, a peace agreement will be signed.
- As part of the agreement on principles, Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights to the lines of 4 June, 1967. The timetable for the withdrawal remained open.
- At the buffer zone, a park will be established for joint use by Israelis and Syrians. The park will cover a significant portion of the Golan Heights. Israelis will be free to access the park and their presence will not be dependent on Syrian approval.
- Israel will retain control over the use of the waters of the Jordan River.
- The border area will be demilitarized along a 1:4 ratio (in terms of territory) in Israel's favor.
According to the terms, Syria will also agree to end its support for Hizbullah and Hamas and will distance itself from Iran.
According to the newspaper, the document is described as a "non-paper," a document of understandings that is not signed and lacks legal standing - its nature is political. It was prepared in August 2005 and has been updated during a number of meetings in Europe.
The meetings were carried out with the knowledge of senior officials in the government of former prime minister Ariel Sharon. The last meeting took place during last summer's war in Lebanon.
The European mediator and the Syrian representative in the discussions held eight separate meetings with senior Syrian officials, including Vice President Farouk Shara, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, and a Syrian intelligence officer.
The contacts ended after the Syrians demanded an end to meetings on an unofficial level and called for a more high level contact. Israel did not agree to this Syrian request.
