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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094438.html
Assad Spurns Netanyahu Offer to Resume Peace Talks
[Ha'aretz] Barak Ravid - Syrian President Bashar Assad rejected the offer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a resumption of peace talks between the two countries. Assad commented on Netanyahu's proposal during a meeting with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell in Damascus a week ago. Netanyahu had told Mitchell ten days ago that he is interested in resuming the negotiations with Syria "without preconditions" and emphasized that "I am unwilling to commit in advance to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights." Assad said the negotiations should resume from the point at which they stopped under former prime minister Ehud Olmert, under Turkish mediation, but Netanyahu informed the American envoy that Israel is opposed to Ankara's role in mediations.