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 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.

Speaking at a news conference after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Assad said the Israeli invitation “did not mention any formula which indicates to anybody that there is a glimpse of hope for any future peace.”

Also Wednesday, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat met with Jordan’s King Hussein in the Jordanian town of Aqaba on the Red Sea 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.