Syrian paper urges Livni to show desire for peace

 © AP
2008-09-20 15:53:03 - DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - A Syrian government newspaper expressed hopes Saturday that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni would show real desire to make peace with Syria as new leader of the ruling Kadima Party.  Livni is a soft-spoken diplomat who has played a central role in peace talks with the Palestinians and prefers negotiation to confrontation. She has said she intends to form a new government. «If she demonstrates a truthful desire to make peace, she will harvest peace,» said the state-owned daily Tishrin in an editorial. «Otherwise, the region will remain in a state of no-war and no-peace and in a tense and unstable climate.  The paper restated Syria's position that calls for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.
«Mrs. Livni knows well the requirements of peace and realizes that giving back occupied Arab lands to their real owners is the password to make the hoped-for just and comprehensive peace,» it said.
Syria and Israel have held four rounds of indirect talks through Turkish mediation so far and Syrian President Bashar Assad recently said he is looking to have direct, face-to-face talks next year.
The main sticking point has been the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The issue led to the collapse of U.S.-brokered direct negotiations in 2000. Syria demands the complete return of the heights. Israel has sought to keep a strip of land around the Sea of Galilee.