TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad sent Israel messages saying he wants to negotiate peace but did not respond to a request for a good will gesture.
Israeli President Moshe Katsav has asked Assad to repatriate the remains of Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy whom the Syrians hanged 40 years ago, a source in the president's office told UPI.
The source, who asked not to be identified, said messages were relayed through the senior U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and Miguel Moratinos, the European Union's emissary who is now Spain's foreign minister.
They had asked Katsav whether he would meet Assad. The Israeli president said he would but asked to check how serious the Syrians are in their quest for peace. They have been sending conflicting messages, sometimes talking of negotiations without pre-conditions and sometimes insisting the talks must continue from the point they had stopped.
Katsav noted he represents the State of Israel, not the government, and political negotiations are up to the government, the source noted.
