Syria’s Assad Sees No Hope in Israeli Offer

Frustrated with Israel’s suggestions for resuming talks, Syrian President Hafez Assad said Wednesday that he sees no “glimpse of hope” for Mideast peace as long as Israel refuses to give up occupied land.

Assad’s comments were his first response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent suggestions for reopening peace talks suspended in March amid a series of terrorist bombings in Israel.

Netanyahu’s offer to discuss “all outstanding issues” with Syria, made Monday during a visit to Jordan, had been seen as a signal he was backing away from his refusal to return the Golan Heights to Syria.

But Assad, in Egypt to meet President Hosni Mubarak, said that an Israeli invitation to renew talks--passed through the United States--gave no hint that Israel would accept the land-for-peace formula that served as the basis of negotiations for five years before Netanyahu’s election.

In related developments:

* Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat met with Jordan’s King Hussein on Wednesday in Aqaba, Jordan, to discuss Palestinian-Israeli peace.

Sources close to the talks said Hussein, who met with Netanyahu on Monday, assured Arafat that the Israeli leader will abide by accords already signed with the Palestinians.

* Israeli jets rocketed Hezbollah guerrilla targets in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in two raids today, Israeli sources said. There were no immediate casualty reports. Hezbollah shelling killed one Israeli soldier and wounded two others in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.