(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-18 12:09

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday he respected Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and was prepared to hold peace talks with him, following reports of an Israeli air raid on Syria this month.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, September 9, 2007. Olmert said on Monday he respected Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and was prepared to hold peace talks with him, following reports of an Israeli air raid on Syria this month. [Reuters]

Israel has refused to comment on what US officials and diplomatic sources have described in news reports as a raid inside Syria that may have targeted weapons headed for Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon or a suspected nuclear site.

Syria said it could retaliate for the September 6 violation of its territory and has denied reports that Damascus may have received North Korean nuclear aid. North Korea has also denied any such cooperation.

"Like I said in the past, we want to make peace with anyone who is willing to make peace with us," Olmert told a group of reporters in Jerusalem when asked about Syria.

"We are willing to enter negotiations with Syria with no preconditions," Olmert said in his first public comments since the incident. "We have much respect for the Syrian leader and the Syrian policy. They have internal problems but this is no reason not to enter into dialogue with them."

A spokesperson for Olmert played down the comments, saying they were similar to what he has said repeatedly in the past.

"He's more than willing to enter into negotiations with the Syrians," an Israeli government official said of Olmert. "We want to meet face to face."

Before the reported raid, Israel had been passing messages to Syria for months through Turkey and other third parties, seeking assurances peace talks would lead Damascus to sever ties with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas militants, officials have said.

Assad has also set preconditions for any revived peace talks. He told the Syrian parliament in July that Israel must first commit itself to a complete withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured 40 years ago.

US President George W. Bush has shown little enthusiasm for an Israeli-Syrian peace track, casting doubt on the chances of a breakthrough in the near future.

But Western officials said the Bush administration has not ruled out Syria taking part in an international conference in November on Palestinian statehood. The conference is expected to be held in the Washington area.

Negotiations between Syria and Israel collapsed in 2000 without resolving the fate of the Golan, a plateau occupied by Israel in 1967 during the Six Day War and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognised internationally.

Syria has protested to the United Nations about the air strikes and its UN ambassador said Israel's motive was to torpedo peace moves.