July 03, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 28, 1429

ANKARA, July 2: Israeli and Syrian negotiators were holding a third round of indirect talks under Turkish mediation on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said.

The negotiations started in Istanbul on Tuesday and would be wrapped up on Thursday, Babacan told reporters at a joint press conference with visiting Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

“We believe this process will move forward as long as both sides maintain determination for a settlement,” Babacan said, adding the talks were “still at a very early stage.” “A successful outcome will have a positive effect on the Middle East and even a wider region,” he said.

Under the format agreed between the parties, the Israeli and Syrian officials do not see each other and Turkish diplomats are shuttling between them.

The talks started in May, ending an eight-year freeze.

Syria said at the time it had received Israeli commitments for a full withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights, seized four decades ago, though Israeli officials have been tight-lipped on the controversial issue.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was willing to make major concessions in what was seen as a reference to the Golan Heights, which were seized in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 — a move never recognised by the international community.

A large group of Israeli lawmakers, meanwhile, are pushing a bill to block an eventual return of the Golan Heights to Syria, and the proposal passed its first reading in parliament on Monday.

Face-to-face negotiations will become possible if the two sides achieve satisfactory progress in the indirect talks, Babacan said.—AFP