Israel and Syria reveal peace talks in Turkey

By Jeffrey Heller and Alastair Macdonald

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel and Syria said on Wednesday they had begun indirect peace talks mediated by Turkey, the first confirmation of negotiations between the long-time enemies in eight years.

In coordinated statements, Israel and Syria said they had begun an open dialogue with the aim of a comprehensive peace. Turkey said delegations of both countries, officially at war since Israel's creation 60 years ago, were already in Istanbul.

The United States said it did "not object" but repeated its

criticism of Syria's "support of terrorism" -- a reminder for many analysts that U.S. hostility to Damascus, and to its Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah allies, makes a Syria-Israel deal unlikely before President George W. Bush steps down in January.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who revealed the talks two days before he faces a police interrogation over graft allegations, said the process would be long, complex and could end in "difficult concessions" for Israel -- an apparent reference to his willingness to hand back the Golan Heights.

"It's always better to talk than shoot," Olmert said, without spelling out what concessions he was thinking of. Just eight months ago, Israeli jets bombed what U.S. officials have called a North Korean-designed nuclear facility in Syria.

An Israeli statement, echoed by one from Syria, said the two sides would now "conduct dialogue in a serious and continuous manner with the aim of reaching a comprehensive peace".

GOLAN HEIGHTS

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Israel had shown that it might return the Golan: "Without this commitment we cannot conduct any negotiation," he told Reuters.

An Israeli official said Olmert had given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad an unspecified "formula" on the Heights.

Israel took the plateau between Damascus and the Sea of Galilee in 1967. It held on to it in another war in 1973. The last peace talks broke down in 2000 over control of the shore of the lake, from which Israel draws much of its water.

For the United Nations, which maintains peacekeepers in the Golan, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised Assad and Olmert as well as the Turkish government for its efforts as go-between for delegations from the two sides who met this week in Istanbul.

Among Olmert's vast army of domestic critics, supporters of the 18,000 Jewish settlers in the Golan threatened to bolt his fragile coalition if he tries to give up the territory.

Others wondered aloud if the announcement was not timed to divert attention from Olmert's troubles with the police. They will interview him for a second time on Friday over suspicions he took bribes from an American businessman. He denies it.

A snap Israeli television poll found 70 percent of people opposed giving back the Golan, and a majority also believing Olmert was using the talks to distract from domestic problems.