Visit Israel if you want peace talks: Peres

JERUSALEM, Oct 11: Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres today suggested Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should come to Jerusalem if he was serious about peace negotiations with the Jewish state.

Assad told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Monday that he was ready for talks, but questioned whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government had the strength to move toward peace.

Peres, Israel's elder statesman and a leading dove, said Assad should seek to address Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset, in Jerusalem.

''If Assad said 'I am coming to the Knesset' would anyone stop him?'' Peres said on Israel Radio.

''He needs to say 'I want to speak with Israel about peace. That is it. I want to meet'.'' Israel's government reiterated yesterday it would not negotiate with Syria, accusing the country of continuing to back militant groups that want to destroy the Jewish state.

Officials from Olmert's office were not immediately available to comment on Peres's remarks.

Peace talks between Israel and Syria broke down in 2000. Syria seeks the return of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 West Asia War and later annexed in a move not recognised internationally.

The United States and Israel say Syria arms and funds factions such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas. Assad has denied this.

Reuters