Russia calls for Middle East peace conference

DAMASCUS, Sep 7 (Reuters) Russia today called for an international West Asia peace conference as ''the only alternative'' to end violence in the region.

''It is time for such a conference. There is an understanding all over the world that it's the only alternative,'' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is on a regional tour, told reporters at Damascus airport.

''It is obvious that the root of the latest confrontations in Lebanon and Palestinian territories is that lack of a comprehensive solution to the West Asia problem,'' Lavrov said after meeting President Bashar al-Assad.

The former Soviet Union co-sponsored with the United States the 1991 Madrid Conference, which helped seal peace deals between the Palestinians and Israel and between the Jewish state and Jordan.

Lavrov's comments echoed the views of Syria, which says the region will remain unstable until a peace deal returns Arab land occupied by Israel since 1967, including the Golan Heights.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said ''a window of opportunity'' was developing to relaunch peace negotiations, including talks between Syria and Israel on returning the Golan, which collapsed in 2000.

''The latest war on Lebanon, and the heroic resistance (Hizbollah) have proved that the Israeli belief in using force to extend its control is no longer possible,'' Moualem said.

A debate has intensified in Israel after its latest invasion of south Lebanon on how to deal with Syria, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently rejected calls within his own cabinet to talk with Damascus about the Golan.

''Syria believes in a just and comprehensive peace, but also calculates that Israel continuously has expansionist intensions,'' Moualem said.

Israel attacked Lebanon after Hizbollah, which Syria supports, captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. A truce took effect more than a month later.

Unlike the United States and other Western countries, Russia favours maintaining contacts with Hizbollah and Hamas. Members of the Palestinian movement's exiled leadership live in Syria.

Russia, Syria's main weapons supplier during the 1970s and 1980s, has been improving ties with Israel and is no longer as close to Damascus as it was during the Soviet era.

Lavrov left later today for Israel and the Palestinian territories, where he is expected to hold talks with President Mahmoud Abbas. He said no meetings were planned with members of the Hamas government.

REUTERS KD PM2236