Syria supports international efforts to restart negotiations with Israel, so long as they are based on the principle of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, an official from Syria's ruling Baath party said Monday.
"Syria has chosen peace as a strategic option to liberate the Golan, and welcomes all international efforts for a resumption in peace negotiations," said Suleiman Qaddah, the party's assistant regional secretary, quoted by the official news agency SANA.
Qaddah said Damascus wants the negotiations to be "based on the principles of law and justice" and on UN Resolutions 242 and 338, which call on Israel to withdrawal from land it captured in the 1967 war with its Arab neighbors.
The official also condemned "the Israeli attitude of disregarding Arab rights ... which is the cause of the impasse in the peace process" and called on Israel to "recognize the Palestinian people's rights and to renounce its tricky and hostile attitude."
"If not, the conflict will continue," he said.
Negotiations between Syria and Israel broke down in January over the extent of Israel' pullback from the Golan – DAMASCUS (AFP)
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