Gary Fitleberg, November 30, 2004

A U.N. envoy urged Israel to act on Syrian peace overtures.

Terje Roed-Larsen, the United Nations envoy to the Middle East, briefed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday after securing an offer from Syrian President Bashar Assad to resume peace talks without preconditions.

"My position, as I told the committee, is that there is a genuine hand of peace being stretched out from Damascus," Larsen said at a news conference. "It should be grabbed quickly."

Israeli officials have ruled out any resumption of talks that stalled in 2000 until Syria stops sponsoring Arab "Palestinian" terrorist groups and the Iranian-Syrian sponsored Lebanese militia and terrorist group Hezbollah.

Gary Fitleberg is a Political Analyst specializing in International Relations with emphasis on Middle East affairs.

Copyright © 2004 Gary Fitleberg