Full Israel-Syria talks unlikely this year: Barak

By James Mackenzie

PARIS (Reuters) - Israel and Syria are unlikely to hold full peace negotiations before the end of the year, or without the involvement of the United States, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak was quoted as saying on Thursday.

On a visit to France, which is expected to host Israeli and Syrian leaders as part of a regional summit next month, Barak said current Turkish-mediated talks between the two enemy states are "preliminary" but could yield peace negotiations in 2009.

"I don't think we will have negotiations before the end of this year nor without the contribution of the Americans, who, alone, can help bridge the gaps," he told Le Monde newspaper, adding he believed Washington would get involved in the future.

But he said a meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could provide a psychological boost that could move the process forward.

The interview came amid speculation Olmert and Assad may meet during the summit of European and Mediterranean leaders in Paris on July 13.

Assad said on Thursday that more progress was needed before he would agree to a meeting with Olmert, who has declined to say whether he will meet his Syrian counterpart in Paris but has voiced optimism direct talks could start soon.

The countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Turkey on Monday and agreed to continue negotiations over the fate of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel captured in a 1967 war and which Syria wants it to return.

In remarks to reporters, Barak described Ankara's mediation as part of "preliminary contacts to probe the ground to see whether peace negotiations are possible, at this stage probably next year".

Barak told Le Monde that while there were great strategic advantages to keeping the Golan, Israel was "ready to consider putting an end" to its occupation of the territory.

"At the right time, if the negotiations succeed, we will be ready to take difficult decisions," he said, echoing similar comments by Olmert.

Israel has said a peace deal depends on Damascus distancing itself from Iran and severing ties with groups such as Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah -- demands Assad has dismissed.

Barak said Damascus would "change a lot of things" by distancing itself from what he described as a chain of Shi'ite power linking Israel's arch-foe Iran to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and to Gaza-based Hamas, which is not Shi'ite but which Israel says gets military support from Tehran.

He said he believed Syria's priorities included ensuring Assad kept power and gaining economic advantages from aid and commercial ties with the United States and other Western powers.

(Writing by Rebecca Harrison in Jerusalem; Editing by Dominic Evans)