Assad Lambastes Israeli Proposal

President Hafez Assad of Syria said Wednesday that an Israeli proposal to resume talks between the two countries had not offered “the slightest hope of the possibility of a forthcoming peace.”

The blunt comments by the Syrian leader appeared to douse the glimmer of optimism raised by the Israeli initiative, which proposed to tackle differences between the two countries by resolving their dispute over Lebanon first.

Assad has insisted that Israel make plain its willingness to trade land for peace with Syria before negotiations stalled since March can resume. But that is a step that Israel’s conservative new government, unlike its predecessor, has steadfastly refused to take, and the stance that Assad displayed Wednesday left little room for common ground.

“Lebanon and Syria first - at the same time, in the same steps,” Assad said.